Welcome to my Mayoral Message for April - Edition 4 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it's difficult to believe how life as we know it has changed so much in such a short space of time. I would like to assure you that our Council is closely following any advice provided by the Federal and State health authorities. Each day brings new changes and challenges, and we are all working tirelessly to ensure strategies are in place to protect our communities and staff. As you will have heard, we have had to close many of our facilities. This was very unfortunate, but completely necessary, given the urgent national need to slow the spread of the virus. Rest assured, we will continue to provide the critical services of water, wastewater, and rubbish collection and disposal. We will also continue to provide our essential services, but the procedure for accessing some of these, such as banking and development applications, has changed. While we have had to close many of our facilities, there are many small businesses who are still open. It's important we keep patronising them. There's a great range of amazing small businesses that need our support right now. We also need to support each other and maintain contact with family, friends and neighbours. We need to stay in touch with each other throughout this period, especially with those that don't have family. If anyone is in the situation of having no one to support them, please ring our Council office and leave your name and number and a Council officer will ring you periodically to check on your well-being. If, at any time, you feel or you know of someone who's feeling overwhelmed, please reach out for support to an organisation such as Beyond Blue. They have lots of information on their website: www.beyondblue.org.au and are contactable by phone on 1800 614 434. The constant commentary about the crisis from so many sources can be very worrying. We only pass on advice and announcements from the State and Federal Governments, as this is reliable information. In closing, it's vitally important that we continue to practice the recommended hygiene routines, social distancing and restricting movement in public to essential requirements only. Whilst this can be unsettling, these are temporary changes to our lives. Thank you for your understanding, co-operation and compassion during this time. Kind regards Ruth McRae Mayor Produced by Murrumbidgee Council, PO Box 96, JERILDERIE NSW 2716 www.murrumbidgee.nsw.gov.au RM6665832 Welcome to my Mayoral Message for April - Edition 4 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it's difficult to believe how life as we know it has changed so much in such a short space of time. I would like to assure you that our Council is closely following any advice provided by the Federal and State health authorities. Each day brings new changes and challenges, and we are all working tirelessly to ensure strategies are in place to protect our communities and staff. As you will have heard, we have had to close many of our facilities. This was very unfortunate, but completely necessary, given the urgent national need to slow the spread of the virus. Rest assured, we will continue to provide the critical services of water, wastewater, and rubbish collection and disposal. We will also continue to provide our essential services, but the procedure for accessing some of these, such as banking and development applications, has changed. While we have had to close many of our facilities, there are many small businesses who are still open. It's important we keep patronising them. There's a great range of amazing small businesses that need our support right now. We also need to support each other and maintain contact with family, friends and neighbours. We need to stay in touch with each other throughout this period, especially with those that don't have family. If anyone is in the situation of having no one to support them, please ring our Council office and leave your name and number and a Council officer will ring you periodically to check on your well-being. If, at any time, you feel or you know of someone who's feeling overwhelmed, please reach out for support to an organisation such as Beyond Blue. They have lots of information on their website: www.beyondblue.org.au and are contactable by phone on 1800 614 434. The constant commentary about the crisis from so many sources can be very worrying. We only pass on advice and announcements from the State and Federal Governments, as this is reliable information. In closing, it's vitally important that we continue to practice the recommended hygiene routines, social distancing and restricting movement in public to essential requirements only. Whilst this can be unsettling, these are temporary changes to our lives. Thank you for your understanding, co-operation and compassion during this time. Kind regards Ruth McRae Mayor Produced by Murrumbidgee Council, PO Box 96, JERILDERIE NSW 2716 www.murrumbidgee.nsw.gov.au RM6665832