It was with great pride I accompanied them during some parts of their visit in our local government area.

Highlights included visiting Mount View High School, where we had an important discussion on domestic violence.

Congratulations to former Mount View High School students Murray Thompson and Jordan O’Brien, who spoke about their involvement in establishing the White Ribbon pledge at the school which continues today.

This really is an important event, which was named Community Event of the Year at the 2015 Australia Day Awards.

We finished the day off at Drayton’s Family Wine, showing off our spectacular wine country and talented vignerons.

The Vice Regal Reception, held last Friday, was a wonderful occasion.

Cessnock Leagues Club was the perfect venue, as it gave our visitors an opportunity to meet some of our outstanding community members who play a vital role in making our community the special place it is.

His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retired), the Governor of New South Wales, and Mrs Hurley finished off their visit to the region on Saturday by dropping into the PCYC, Cessnock Mens Shed and Handmade in the Hunter Markets.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the Vice Regal visit. We certainly did our community proud.

The annual National General Assembly of Local Government was held in Canberra from Monday, June 19.

I am happy to report that a motion put forward by Cessnock City Council received overwhelming support from councils across Australia. The motion urges the federal government to provide financial support to all councils to help address growing local infrastructure backlogs.

Of the three tiers of government, local government has the feeblest ability to apply a tax or levy.

However, it is required to prop up about 74 per cent of the nation’s road network, placing enormous pressure on council budgets.

It for this reason I was not surprised to receive such strong support, and I sincerely hope we get a response from the federal government.

The Community Strategic Plan, 2017-18 Delivery Program, the 2017-18 Operational Plan & Budget and Resourcing Strategy have now been adopted by council.

These plans set out the delivery of council’s ongoing activities and key initiatives for the year ahead.

I look forward to seeing what we can achieve and will continue to look for other funding sources to supplement our delivery program.

The Kurri Kurri District Strategy is now on public exhibition.

We are urging community members to provide their feedback, especially those living in Weston and Kurri Kurri.

The draft strategy sets out opportunities for the future and will guide development as we continue to build a community that is active, accessible and thriving into future.

The 28-day exhibition period started on June 21 and ends August 2.

To make a submission, or for more information, visit http://www.cessnock.nsw.gov.au/community/exhibition/kurrikurridistrictstrategy.

The council administration building is at 62-78 Vincent  Street, Cessnock, 2325, mail address PO Box 152, Cessnock. Phone is 4993 4100 or email council@cessnock.nsw.gov.au

Cr Bob Pynsent is mayor of Cessnock City Council.