What a year it has been for our local community! From the opening of Putney beach to the launch of a Korean War Memorial; the City of Ryde Council has tirelessly achieved many amazing things for our local area in 2025. But what do they have to offer for 2026?
On Monday the 15th of December, “Hendo” caught up with the Mayor of Ryde, Councillor (Cllr) Trenton Brown, discussing what the City of Ryde has achieved this year, and what it plans for the next.
Cllr Brown proudly reflected on his accessibility to the local area, working collaboratively with our local community. Events such as ‘Meet the Mayor’ and ‘Coffee’s with the Mayor’ have improved community participation on local issues, ensuring community feedback is implemented into local plans.
The launch of Putney Beach has been a hit, allowing families to enjoy the lovely weather and go for a swim locally.
Cllr Brown commented, “It’s a wonderful facility for kids. I think we spent many millions of dollars there, and the project ran for a few years.”
As the summer heat continues to rise, Cllr Brown will be taking part in a promotion for Swim Safety at Ryde Aquatic Centre and Putney Beach, ensuring to educate all individuals about water safety in our community.
Multiculturally, the City of Ryde had many local events this year that celebrated our culturally diverse area.
“Culturally, we have had a number of events that reflect the multi-cultural nature of our community, and I think for the first year ever we had the, recognise the Persian new year in March, the Nowruz festival…we have a very big Persian community centred around Top Ryde,” said Cllr Brown.
“For the Indian Community we had the first ever Council sponsored Diwali event.”
The launch of a Korean War Memorial in July in Meadowbank furthered that notion, as the City of Ryde was able to secure a stone from the Kapyong Valley.
“We recognise the some 17,000 Australians who served in the Korean Peninsula. Many did not return, but equally we recognise, not only Australian diggers but Korean war veterans as well,” said Cllr Brown.
Cllr Brown continued, “We have the largest Armenian community in our Local Government Area anywhere across Australia. We have the annual genocide memorial and reflection…Memorial Day is the 24th of April.”
As the year comes to an end, Cllr Brown shared how our local area is tackling our housing crisis, describing Ryde as the “epi-centre of development”.
“We are, as I said, the gold standard for additional housing across councils in greater Sydney and we’ve already done very well. We have a five-year target. We are about 55% of our target is already been met after only 18 months.”
“We have a significant deficit of sports fields today. We’ve projected with that population growth that deficit will grow from 15 sports fields to 21. And we can’t find ourselves across three tiers of government doing nothing about a problem that we know and we foresee.”
The council is closing the year on a bang, with New Years Eve fireworks at Meadowbank at 9pm.
As for next year, a trial will take place in February 2026 at Eastwood library, where it will be operating 24/7. There will be heavy security maintaining the area, ensuring safety for all individuals in our community. The council will evaluate how popular this initiative is for individuals, and will decide whether to continue these operating hours.
There are exciting plans for hard infrastructure at Macquarie Park set to start next year. Catherine Hamlin park is set to launch in October/November 2026, near the intersection of Waterloo Road and Lane Cove Road– ensuring open and green space for our local area.
Meadowbank Park’s beloved netball courts are relocating to where the old Marsden High School used to situate, being a part of the new project of the ‘West Ryde Multi-Sports Centre’. They are currently relaying turf back at Meadowbank park for football fields, and building a new amenities block as well. This development is expected to be complete by Summer 2026.
As for our bins, Ryde Council aims to implement new, small bins into our homes.
Councils such as the City of Canada Bay have trialed a ‘Food Organics Garden Organics’ (FOGO) collection. This is where food organics are collected and separated from our red rubbish bins.
The Ryde Council aims to similarly roll out small caddies for our kitchens, where food and meat scraps, vegetables, and eggs and dairy products are disposed of. This initiative aims to reduce our carbon footprint and meet our net zero goals by 2035.
Once your kitchen caddy is full with compostable items, you will empty your food organics into your green bin. Green bins will be collected on a weekly basis within the next 12-18 months.
Have a listen to the full interview below!