As we enter 2025 and our first full year as councillors, those members of the Hilltops community who voted for us will undoubtedly be watching.

I am under no illusion about the difficulty of meeting community expectations, given the wide range of services and infrastructure that the council provides, as well as the red tape and bureaucracy that can sometimes be overwhelming and tend to restrict positivity and enthusiasm.

Hilltops Council is a large organisation working to unite the individual and long-established identities of the three unique communities of Young, Harden, and Boorowa, along with the surrounding villages, into one harmonious group for the purposes of long term growth, local business expansion, infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, employment opportunities and shared values.

As councillors, we have accepted the responsibility of acting in the best interests of the community by providing leadership and integrity in all our dealings with all levels of

government - local, state, and federal - on behalf of the local Hilltops community.

Our performance as councillors will be judged by our actions, not our words.

Any failure to uphold the values placed on us by the community will reflect poorly on both the council and the councillors as individuals.

Council has identified five major projects that will require funding to progress to the construction stage.

These projects include the Boorowa Reservoir Duplication, the Young CBD Revitalisation, the Garabaldi Bridge Replacement, the Harden Sewage Treatment Plant

Upgrade, and the Roberts Park Change Rooms in Harden—and that is just the beginning!

Additionally, councillors will be holding a roundtable workshop on Wednesday 29 January to compile a list of community projects, which will be presented to council for inclusion in the 2025/2026 budget.

Councillor Neil Langford