Councillor Nathan Zamprogno | Politician

Councillor Nathan Zamprogno

Phone: +61 427 122 419

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25.01.2022 I wrote recently about the draft masterplan for Colbee Park at McGraths Hill and how important it is for people to have their say about it while it's on public exhibition. Here's Council's link for people to make submissions and comments. I've spoken to many local groups and residents about the plan and the park. Some, like Arndell school next door, weren't even called and were unaware of the draft plan (despite the plan having a proposed footbridge to link to Colbee). Other ...sport groups tell me their expectations haven't been realised in the draft plan. Further, that Council would advance this plan without any commitment to fund it, even within our decadal works program, is disappointing. Only public pressure will accelerate this into reality! Have your say by October 16th, please. Arndell Anglican College Oakville United Soccer Club Oakville United Soccer Club Hawkesbury Hornets Bmx Club Hawkesbury Hornets BMX Club Oakville Raiders Oakville Raiders Baseball Club The Real McGraths Hill Hawkesbury Post

25.01.2022 We are many things. Sons. Brothers. Professionals. Citizens. But the thing I am most proud of, and by a large margin, is being a Dad. Happy Fathers Day.

25.01.2022 Colbee Park in McGraths Hill is one of our most used, and most neglected sports fields. Despite near constant use from the Oakville United Soccer Club, the Oakville Raiders Baseball Club, the Hawkesbury Hornets BMX Club, frequented by dog-walkers and near the pleasant wetlands of Killarney creek, the park also suffers from limited parking that turns into a quagmire with a breath of rain, insufficient seating, has little shade, an open drain that cuts the park in two, and buil...dings so inadequate that sports clubs have had to use shipping containers to stow their club’s gear. The baseball club lost all their uniforms and gear when it flooded earlier this year. Hopefully, this can begin to change. Council will consider the exhibition of a new masterplan for Colbee Park at our next meeting. The plan includes upgraded fields, new play equipment, better parking, proper amenities and storage for clubs (including a female change room), seating and shade structures, a Pump BMX Track, and a footbridge over the Creek for nearby Arndell school. The only thing missing is funding to make it happen within ten years. I’ll keep advocating on that front. The draft Masterplan can be seen as attachments to our Business Paper for our Council meeting of 8/9/20 (Item 170), at the link below. I’ll let you know when the plan is open for public comment. If you’re a user of Colbee Park, I encourage you to have your say. https://councillorzamprogno.info//Colbee-Park-Masterplan-a

25.01.2022 Mental health is a subject dear to me, and more important than ever in trying times. I dropped in this morning at the Be & Co. Hawkesbury initiative in the lawn forecourt of the Windsor library in George Street and caught up with Michelle Hookham, Mariah Shapiro and company. It's a free community event that pops up fortnightly on Thursday mornings between 9.30am and 11.30am. It is a relaxed space where people can come along, have a free barista-made coffee and a chat with oth...er people in the community. Today, they were doing mosaic work with glass and tile for a mural that will be installed on the side of the carpark at the Deerubbin Centre. If you're at a loose end on a Thursday morning, I commend it to you.

24.01.2022 In May, the Federal Government announced $500M of new funding to Councils around the country, under the Local Road and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) Program. In July, Hawkesbury City Council received news it would get $1,086,000 of that money to spend on a range of projects. I was pleased to speak to my friends at the Pitt Town Progress Association about the benefits to our area, including three new footpath projects. It's great news!

21.01.2022 My days as a Soccer Dad are over, so now I’m recycled as a Soccer Uncle. Go Pitt Town Football Club! Again, I’m confronted by sporting groups making do with containers for storage. How much would a slab and a roller door shed cost? I propose a co-funding scheme where clubs fundraise and Council matches funding and provides DA assistance and approval at no cost. ... If you’re part of a sporting group that has inadequate storage at a Hawkesbury Council ground, please get in touch with me. See more

21.01.2022 On this day exactly 75 years ago, Sir Robert Menzies formally launched the Liberal Party of Australia at Sydney Town Hall. Menzies was a tireless advocate for what he called "the Forgotten people" -- the broad middle class of Australia, whom he described as the backbone of the nation. The generators of wealth, and the repository of our positive and distinctive virtues. Read a few lines from a famous speech of his and ask whether his diagnosis of the issues are still relevant ...today: "The great vice of democracy ... is that for a generation we have been busy getting ourselves on to the list of beneficiaries and removing ourselves from the list of contributors, as if somewhere there was somebody else's wealth and somebody else's effort on which we could thrive. To discourage ambition, to envy success, to have achieved superiority, to distrust independent thought, to sneer at and impute false motives to public service - these are the maladies of modern democracy, and of Australian democracy in particular. Yet ambition, effort, thinking, and readiness to serve are not only the design and objectives of self-government but are the essential conditions of its success. If this is not so, then we had better put back the clock, and search for a benevolent autocracy once more. Where do we find these great elements most commonly? Among the defensive and comfortable rich, among the unthinking and unskilled mass, or among what I have called the 'middle class'?"

20.01.2022 Congratulations, Patrick!

20.01.2022 This morning I spoke to 2GB 873 - Sydney Talk Radio's The Ray Hadley Morning Show to discuss a Development Application for the concrete recycling plant at Ebenezer, and about the broader issues of Planning Panels and how they are presently failing to strike the right balance between process and democracy. https://omny.fm//hawkesbury-city-councillor-nathan-zamprog My extended views on this subject are at my website:... https://councillorzamprogno.info//speaking-to-ray-hadley-/ See more

19.01.2022 A brilliant Spring day gave me the opportunity to join old friends at the Oakville Raiders Baseball Club at Colbee Park at McGraths Hill for their gala day, with club president Jon Goode, Secretary Alita Stephens, Treasurer Katerina Gosis, Registrar Jessica Rogers and Hawkesbury Sports Council Vice President Les Sheather. The club is going from strength to strength, and today the club dedicated their diamond to the name of local boy made good, Dean Frew, a Windsor High School... alumnus, now making waves in the US Baseball circuit in Texas. The long term plan Hawkesbury City Council has developed for the grounds was discussed -- in need of better parking, lighting, shade sructures, seating and storage for the four clubs that use the park. The Real McGraths Hill Hamish Rogers Realty

14.01.2022 Every 8 years or so, the NSW Electoral Commission re-draws the boundaries of seats in our State. You should pay attention: This process can put an MP out of job by flipping its notional status as Labor or Liberal. Or it might change who represents you, or lump you in with other suburbs with whom you feel little affinity. I've made a helpful video visualising the proposed changes to some seats in north and western Sydney. If you like it, feel free to share it.... Further details are at my website: https://councillorzamprogno.info//the-nsw-2020-state-redi/ Antony Green NSW Electoral Commission Kevin Conolly MP Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury Tanya Davies MP Stuart Ayres The Hawkesbury Gazette Hawkesbury Post

13.01.2022 I was saddened to hear of yesterday's passing of Greg Peisley, once the senior Pastor at Pitt Town Anglican Community Church. Greg was a gentle man, a good witness, and a friend to all who knew him, including my family. Vale, Greg.

13.01.2022 As a member of Council's Civics and Citizenship Committee, I would like to encourage you to consider nominating people and groups in our community for the 2021 Hawkesbury Australia Day Awards. It's been a huge year, with bushfires, floods and the pandemic ... I am sure there are many worthy recipients. Nominations close on 5pm Friday, 23 October 2020. The Categories are:... Citizen of the Year Young Citizen of the Year Local Hero Award Volunteer of the Year Community Organisation of the Year Community Arts Award Cultural Heritage Award Environmental Award Commemorative Plaque Sports Person of the Year Junior Sports Person of the Year All abilities sports person of the year (all ages) Nomination forms should provide as much details as possible to assist with the judging process, and can be made via councils website - https://www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au//australiadayawards-nomi Share or tag if you know someone who should know about this!

12.01.2022 I was pleased to launch the Blue Mountains Shale Cap Forest Project at Bilpin yesterday, as Chairman of the Hawkesbury River County Council. The Shale forests stretching across Berambing, Bilpin and Mountain Lagoon are State listed endangered ecological communities, even more threatened in the aftermath of the fires. They are typified by an unusually rich diversity of plant, insect, and vertebrate species. People forget that the Hawkesbury has more of the Greater Blue Mount...ains World Heritage Area within its boundaries than the Blue Mountains LGA. My first paid job as a teenager was at Dutch's farm at Mountain Lagoon. I still remember being captivated by the size of the huge Angophoras fringing the property. It's satisfying to now lead an organisation working for their preservation. This initiative is funded over multiple years to identify and map the ecology, educate and incentivise landowners, provide on the ground help to assist in bush regeneration, conduct weed control, and track progress. The project will aim to found a dedicated Bilpin Landcare group to carry the work forward, and the locals who attended today were curious and positive about it. This grant (over $100K) is the first-time a private property engagement that focuses on conservation and land management has been done on this scale. Over 400 private properties have been contacted covering over 2,835 hectares in the Hawkesbury. It's also great to see this is a team effort between Blue Mountains City Council, Hawkesbury River County Council, Hawkesbury City Council, the Hawkesbury Landcare Network, Greater Sydney Local Land Services, and the NSW Environmental Trust. If you think this is a great project, share this to friends. If you want to get on board, contact HRCC. Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury Matt Kean MP Back to Bilpin Bilpin Rural Fire Brigade NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Dragonfly Environmental Hawkesbury Environment Network HEN

10.01.2022 The Australiana Pioneer Village turned 50 this week, and I was honoured to represent Hawkesbury City Council at the celebration. Council has not always been a good friend to the Village, which has defied all expectations under the dedicated work of the The Friends of The Australiana Pioneer Village to become a gem in the Hawkesbury -- a wonderful repository of our living history, and a tourism drawcard given by the healthy crowd there this morning. Joining us was APV Presiden...t Kevin Weeks and member of the APV founding family, Chris McLachlan, and Costa Georgiadis Official from the ABC's Gardening Australia program -- full of good advice about composting, worm farming and Chicken rearing! I've fought to see the APV funded to complete its Conservation Management Plan -- crucial for caring for the heritage on the site, and a key for unlocking other grant funding, and also completing a Flood Study so that the Hawkesbury Valley Men's Shed can erect a new building on the site with a NSW Government grant. Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury Mayor of Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Post

10.01.2022 The NSW Government and our local MP, Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury really came through for us in the provision of $13M to set up a PCYC Hawkesbury in our area. Working closely with Hawkesbury City Council, we determined the best outcome was to use the money to greatly expand the facilities at our existing Sports Centre in South Windsor. I was privileged to be present at the handover to the PCYC NSW recently and think this is going to be a huge boost for sports, fo...r our Youth, and in offering diversionary services for those who need guidance in our community. https://www.hawkesburygazette.com.au//clubs-role-is-to-he/

09.01.2022 It was such a shame we couldn’t hold a street parade earlier this year to thank our RFS volunteers. But today we held two functions to gather members from the 21 Hawkesbury brigades and make some small gesture of our collective gratitude. Hawkesbury Headquarters Rural Fire Brigade Hawkesbury Communications Rural Fire Brigade Oakville Rural Fire Brigade... NSW RFS Hawkesbury Catering Brigade Blaxland Ridge Rural Fire Brigade Yarramundi Rural Fire Brigade Glossodia Rural Fire Brigade Tennyson Rural Fire Brigade Bilpin Rural Fire Brigade Freemans Reach Rural Fire Brigade Colo Heights Rural Fire Service Colo Vale Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade St Albans Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade Grose Vale Rural Fire Brigade NSW RFS - Hawkesbury District Wilberforce Rural Fire Brigade Kurrajong Rural Fire Brigade Kurrajong Heights Rural Fire Service Sackville North Rural Fire Brigade Robyn Preston MP - Member for Hawkesbury Apologies to brigades with a Facebook page I’ve missed. Was doing from memory. Please let me know in comments.

06.01.2022 Thank you for caring about local government. After four years on Hawkesbury Council, I'm still the only Councillor with a website. The only one who bothers to write regular long form pieces about the important issues affecting our beautiful city. If we Councillors can't hear you, engage with you, and understand your views, that's not your fault -- it's ours. Can I ask a favour? Please invite your Hawkesbury friends to follow this page. There's a button for it on my page. Much appreciated!

05.01.2022 Are your Free Range eggs really Free Range? This morning I was in Woolworths and walked past the Eggs. We keep chickens at home and rarely need to buy them. Most consumers are on board with buying Free Range eggs and want to buy from farms that treat their hens humanely. 80% of the eggs on sale now advertise themselves as Free Range, so it’s obvious the market has spoken, even if it costs a little extra.... But I was struck by the massive range of conditions that purport to be Free Range. From 40 hens per hectare, up to 10,000 which is little better than battery farms with cages. The CSIRO developed a Model Code that suggests no more than 1500 hens/hectare is healthy. Sadly, this scientific evidence was ignored in botched (Federal) regulation in 2017. My encouragement to you is to educate yourself when you’re shopping. Take a closer look not all Free Range eggs are equal. Please share this graphic I made in the interests of being humane to animals. The market can do what regulation is failing to. https://www.choice.com.au//what-free-range-eggs-meet-the-m

03.01.2022 Today's media about the Colbee Park Masterplan.

03.01.2022 Today I spent some time with Garry Cotter from Hawkesbury Radio 899. We covered a lot of territory, from Windsor Bridge, to Development, Pitt Town, Council rates, Redbank, Planning Panels, a problematic DA at Ebenezer and the upcoming Mayoral election!

02.01.2022 In 2012, our Hawkesbury community was rocked by the most terrible crime and tragedy. Local Police Inspector Bryson Anderson and his colleagues were called to a property in Scheyville after reports a young man was firing arrows into the neighbours property -- part of a longer running neighbourhood dispute. When they arrived, Inspector Anderson was ambushed with a knife at the door of the property and died.... The man and his mother shared paranoid delusions and were both culpable for the death. Both wielded weapons and attacked officers. I am outraged that the mother has been paroled and is now free in society after only 8 years. I am deeply disappointed at this outcome. It does not serve justice, nor the expectations of the broader community. NSW Police Force Hawkesbury Police Area Command https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au//856fa368153f2f4599752a7

02.01.2022 The NSW government have announced the removal of warning signs at the locations of speed cameras. No such plans were disclosed before the last election. It’s not a Council matter, but the Hawkesbury hosts 5 or more fixed speed or red light cameras. For what it’s worth, I’m opposed to this idea. Only active, local Highway Patrol policing works to bring the road toll down. Getting a fine in the post two weeks after an infraction is no goad to better driver behaviour.... What galls is that prior to gaining election in 2011, both the Liberal and National Parties -- MPs who went on to become Deputy Premier, Roads Minister (!), and even Police Minister (!!) excoriated the then Labor Government for using Speed Cameras as revenue raisers. Here are some quotes from these MP's in Hansard: "The Hon. DUNCAN GAY (Nationals): My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Roads. Does his Government still acknowledge the value that marked cars and marked cameras offer as a deterrent to speeding? Will the Minister indicate whether the Roads and Traffic Authority has put forward plans to use unmarked police cars and/or hire cars with no signage as stationery speed camera vehicles? Would this mean that the Government has given up on deterrent measures and has resorted to just revenue raising?" (10th May 2007)" "The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER (Liberal): My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Roads. Does the Minister recall on 10 May the Opposition questioned him about plans to use parked, unmarked vehicles with no signage to catch speeding drivers? On that occasion why did the Minister not admit to the public of New South Wales that the Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA] had plans to use covert speed cameras? Whilst the Minister talks about transparency and a preparedness to work with the public, why did he only admit to the plan when the Daily Telegraph published the story on the front page yesterday? (06 June 2007)" "Mr ANDREW STONER (Nationals): My question is directed to the Minister for Roads. As the Minister said yesterday he had "no doubt" that the number of locations at which motorists can be caught by mobile speed cameras will change, will he now come clean with the motoring public and admit that he is planning to increase them by almost seven times, to 1,000, despite failing to provide any evidence they are anything more than a sneaky way to line the Government's pockets? (11 November 2010)"

02.01.2022 There's a new masthead in the Hawkesbury, and god knows we need good journalism these days. Good luck to the Editor Tony Bosworth and his team for having a go in trying times. I encourage you to Like.

01.01.2022 Studies now say that if the Hawkesbury river had a bad flood -- one that is statistically inevitable given what we know about our floodplain, the damage could be over $7 billion dollars, and would certainly cause loss of life. Over 134,000 people live and trade on the floodplain. In such a flood, 90,000 would need to be evacuated, and 12,000 homes would be inundated. The risk could be reduced by 75% if Warragamba Dam is raised by 15 meters.... There is a lot of misinformation put about concerning the Warragamba Dam raising project. That it’s a stalking horse for development on the floodplain. That it will ruin a world heritage site. That it’s about increasing Sydney’s water supply. These claims are not true. It’s about protecting life and property. We are the community most at risk, and our voice should figure prominently in the decision to build this infrastructure. I observe that most people who are opposed to the project don’t live on the floodplain. They live elsewhere, high and dry. They endure no risk to themselves, their families, or property. I was approached for an interview recently for some academic research for my alma mater, the University of Sydney. I summarise many of the points I frequently make about this project, and Hawkesbury Council’s attitude towards it. https://councillorzamprogno.info//what-are-the-facts-abou/