Cessnock Christmas Carols cancellation not good enough

Last Wednesday Mr. Buckley, an events planner, shared an open letter on Facebook directed at Cessnock City Council, Cessnock Chamber of Commerce, Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent and Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr.

In the letter, Mr. Buckley slammed council’s lack of support for local events including recent vineyard concerts such as the Rolling Stones, the town’s laneway projects and the upcoming Asian Cup.

Cessnock’s Carols in the Park, scheduled to take place on December 4, were cancelled due to bad weather. In a statement released by council, the event was cancelled from a health and safety perspective, with a 90 per cent chance of severe thunderstorm forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology.

Mr. Buckley said that council’s decision to cancel the carols outright rather than rescheduling was the “final straw”, but that the real issues within the town go much further.  

The online post has since been shared more than 500 times and Mr. Buckley said that the response is proof that his sentiments are not alone. 

“This is not just about the carols,” he said.

“The lack of any Christmas decorations around town – there is no civic pride in Cessnock. People feel like our representatives are good at micromanaging, but what the majority of people are now saying is that there is no vision for the town.”

Mr. Buckley said that he wants to see a vision for the cultural growth of Cessnock and a vision of events celebrating the cultural and creative talents of the community.  

He is now developing ‘Project Cessnock’ which will serve as an online movement aimed at turning this vision into a reality. He said that the project will not be political, but will demand transparency from the local representatives who are “not doing their job”. 

“We need people in council whose job it is to make people feel good,” he said. 

“There is such a divide across the LGA and it is not shrinking. It is time to stir the pot a little bit.”