I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the big activities going on in the Brighton Municipality at the mo­ment, council projects and key priorities that will be game changing for our communities.

It is absolutely amazing to think that between the town­ship of Brighton and the River Derwent, we have almost $1 billion of developments under construction at this time.

We have the new Bridgewater Bridge, the new Brighton High School, the IGA shopping cen­tre redevelopment in Brighton, the completion (and pending development) of 33 lots in the Brighton Industrial Hub, our Andrew Street Brighton re­construction and of course the new, state of the art GP Clinic in Brighton. It’s an exciting time and it demonstrates that Brighton has hit a kind of criti­cal mass, which should provide business confidence for a wide range of future investments.

High growth is an exciting time for a council, but it is a huge job to make sure this growth benefits the whole community and to plan for and provide the infrastructure and services that a growing and urbanising community needs.

We are master planning key precincts, such as the area around the new Bridgewater Bridge, we are reviewing zoning and growth areas and we are pushing for state and federal investment in their key local as­sets, such as the East Derwent Highway, the Bridge Precinct and to create an upgraded freight route between Brigh­ton and Cambridge – linking southern Tasmania’s two main industrial precincts and im­proving export opportunities with the airport.

We have major park upgrades underway in Bridgewater, Gagebrook, Herdsmans Cove and we are about to commence a $3.5 million project to up­grade soccer facilities and the parkland in Seymour Street Brighton.

We will soon be commencing the construction of a Town Square out the front of the new IGA shopping centre, finally providing a town centre space for Brighton. Brighton Council has worked with IGA as part of the new development to pre­pare a concept plan for a town square in central Brighton that provides an attractive meeting place with beautiful landscap­ing, informal play elements and opportunities for community events. The Town Square will provide a vibrant heart for the Brighton township, making it an even more attractive place to live, work and play.

To support our growing industrial hub, we are imple­menting a branding strategy with signage (you won’t miss on the highway!), landscaping and the construction of a truck stop with toilets and a park area that can accommodate food vans.

We hope all this activity and Council’s strong vision for man­aging growth, provides you with confidence for the future of our area as a great place to live and do business.

In addition, we are mindful that growth of this nature requires serious investment in nurturing and strengthening our commu­nities. We are investing in the community development space. John Flack, our new youth worker commenced with us in February and will be working very closely with all our schools from Gagebrook to Brighton to make connections and build relationships with our young people, as well as facilitating our Brighton Youth Action Group (BYAG). It is critical that we encourage and em­power those who will be most impacted, to make decisions and solve problems relating to their future.

We continue to advocate strongly for a complete over­haul of public transport infra­structure and services to our area to ensure we are not only better connected to the rest of Hobart but the communities within in our area are well ser­viced and connected by public transport. This advocacy in­cludes ensuring plans are made for a bus interchange linking to the Northern Suburbs corridor, a park and ride servicing our sub-region and ferry terminal for potential future services.

Finally, I encourage you to always reach out to our wonderful staff at Brighton Council or our Jobs Hub in Pontville to see if we can assist you as a resident or business owner in any way. We under­stand how complex and frus­trating certain processes can be at times, but we are always happy to investigate how we might be able to help you tackle challenges and harness oppor­tunities in these times of rapid growth and change.

Brighton Mayor

Leigh Gray