Memorable year for Fairfield City

Published on 14 December 2022

2022 has certainly been a year full of achievements for our City. As your Mayor, I am proud of the many great projects and initiatives we delivered for the community despite the challenges of COVID-19 early in the year.

We opened the $11 million Pavilion at Fairfield Showground, another key piece of infrastructure for the City, featuring a 1,000 seat grandstand, five corporate boxes, the Alan Young Room for spectators and private events on level 1, kitchen and canteen facilities, ticket booth and change rooms.

Works on the Fairfield Golf Course Detention Basin upgrade got underway to prevent flooding and protect properties in the area. Flood detention basins are large areas that fill up and hold floodwater back, releasing it slowly to reduce flooding downstream.

Our major events made a welcome return in 2022 heralded by a weekend of festivities celebrating Cabramatta Lunar New Year in February. Culinary Carnival saw a three-week celebration in both Fairfield City Centre and Cabramatta Town Centre in May; and the iconic Cabramatta Moon Festival welcomed 80,000 people to Cabramatta in September, headlined by internationally acclaimed ABBA tribute show Björn Again against a lantern illuminated night sky. This year we also held the Fairfield Spring Fest in Fairfield City Centre, which was a huge hit with our residents thanks to a CBD Revitalisation Program grant from the NSW Government.

During the first quarter of the year, we partnered with Endeavour Energy to convert all 15,300 streetlights in our City to LED lighting. The switch saw significant environmental and financial benefits as well as brighter lighting lasting 5 to 10 times longer than the original less efficient bulbs.

March saw the onset of our large citizenship ceremonies at Fairfield Showground. The large format ceremonies helped reduce the backlog created by the pandemic, and to date has seen a total of 3,700 residents inducted as Australian citizens.

Over the past couple of years we have been advocating on your behalf to upgrade Fairfield Hospital. After collecting 11,000 signatures, we were successful in getting a commitment from the NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns for an initial $115 million to kick off the extensive upgrade program. We will continue to speak up to make sure the upgrades to Fairfield Hospital occur, no matter the state election outcome next March.

In addition to these achievements, Council also continued to deliver on our works program, including $13.4 million in road and transport improvements and $4.4 million for new and upgraded footpaths.

Christmas is a special time of year, so we have installed Christmas lights and decorations across the City, at roundabouts and town centres. We hope you enjoy them as you travel around the City, and we encourage you all to do the same at your place, and enter our Light Up Christmas competition.

While we achieved a lot this year, 2023 is shaping up to be another big year, with even more exciting projects on the way that will ensure Fairfield City remains a wonderful place to live, work, play and raise a family.

I wish you and your families and loved ones a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. I look forward to continuing to serve you and support the community in the coming year.