A special Council meeting has elected long-time Parramatta City Councillor Paul Garrard to the position of Lord Mayor, with Cr Bakous Makari named Deputy Lord Mayor.
Cr Garrard was first elected to represent the Woodville Ward in September 1974 and has been re-elected on ten consecutive occasions. This is his sixth term as Lord Mayor.
“It is a great honour to again have the opportunity to serve the people of Parramatta in the capacity of Lord Mayor. Parramatta is growing at a rapid rate and Council is playing a crucial role in facilitating that growth and ensuring resident’s needs are met along the way,” Cr Garrard said.
“For Parramatta to continue to grow and develop we need to be a ‘Smart City’ driven by intelligent planning and leading-edge innovative technologies that will improve the functionality and liveability of our City, while respecting our rich heritage.
“Having launched Council’s Smart City committee, ParraConnect, five years ago I am committed to seeing that our City fosters innovative entrepreneurship and collaboration between governments, businesses and our local communities.
“I have always been a strong advocate of our neighbourhoods and this term I want to introduce a ‘Neighbourhood focus’ to Council so that we bring our residents with us into the future.
“By redefining our neighbourhoods, we have the opportunity to better focus on service delivery and efficiency, effectively bringing local government closer to the community.
“There are many positive changes taking place in Parramatta, with work set to start on a $300 million redevelopment of Pirtek stadium, plans for the Powerhouse Museum to come to the City and work still underway to determine the first route of the Western Sydney Light Rail.
“We have made great progress on the $2 billion Parramatta Square urban renewal project, which will see a new City heart created for residents, workers and visitors.
“We also stand at the crossroads of how Local Government will be administered for generations to come with the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) soon to release its recommendations on the State Government’s ‘Fit for the Future’ reform process. I support Council’s proposal for the creation of a new Parramatta based Council with the scale and capacity to deliver growth and improved services.
“We will continue to work closely with State and Federal Governments to achieve large scale projects to enhance our City and secure Parramatta as Sydney’s dual CBD.
“I would like to congratulate and thank the outgoing Lord Mayor Cr Scott Lloyd and Deputy Lord Mayor Cr Steven Issa who have done a commendable job keeping the City moving forward over the past year. I look forward to continuing the great work that the Council has been achieving.”
