Cr Masud Khalil has tabled two of three notices of motion to be debated at the next meeting of Campbelltown Council.
One is a call on council to bring back the Ramadan Festival in 2026. The festival ran for two years in 2022 and 2023 but was abandoned once grant funding from the state government was spent.
It was held around the Queen Street-Lithgow Street (pictured above from 2023) and attracted large numbers of visitors.
Cr Khalil will ask that a report be prepared containing an overview of council’s events program and outline funding strategies to include the Ramadan Festival in 2026 as an ongoing part of the annual program.
Such a step would be acknowledging the importance of Ramadan in promoting cultural diversity, fostering community engagement, and enhancing inclusion within the region, says the notice of motion.
Cr Khalil also wants council to pursue funding opportunities such as government grants to support the ongoing costs of the Ramadan Festival to secure its long-term sustainability and future growth.
He suggests that council ought to collaborate with business and community stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and support for the funding of Ramadan Festival, “contributing to its success and expanding its reach within the community’’.
In his second notice of motion, Cr Khalid is calling for a report outlining council’s civic events program, and also look into the feasibility of a new civic event to commemorate International Mother Language Day.
In the second part of the motion, Cr Khalil wants council to endorse the raising of the Bangladesh flag at the council civic centre on February 21 “in honour of those who sacrificed and advocated for the protection of their language’’.
Council this year passed a motion changing the rules regarding the flying of foreign flags.
Council now has to debate and vote on any request to fly such flags.
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Cr Adam Zahra, who was elected at the September election, is behind the third notice of motion on the business paper for next Tuesday night’s meeting.
In May, the Campbeltown Council traffic committee called for action to tackle traffic congestion between Campbeltown Road and the onramp to the Hume Highway from Raby Road.
Council wrote to the department of transport asking it to review the problem and act accordingly.
With no sign of action since then, Cr Zahra now wants council to step up again, but this time go straight to the top and write to the minister.
Cr Zahra’s notice of motion is calling for a letter to the minister for transport, Jo Haylen, asking her to act.
Council meetings start at 6.30pm. They are also live streamed.
