Mr O’Farrell will visit the city– at the request of Maitland MP Robyn Parker and Minister for the Hunter George Souris – for a Community Cabinet Public Forum at Maitland Town Hall on on Monday, February 10.

The last time a premier visited the city for a regional cabinet meeting was 2008 when Morris Iemma brought his ministers to town – and that visit resulted in the state government providing $200,000 to aircondition Maitland Town Hall.

Newcastle hosted a regional cabinet meeting about 18 months ago and, as a result, more than $350 million was allocated to Hunter projects.

Ms Parker, Minister for the Environment in Mr O’Farrell’s cabinet, has already delivered major funding for many projects in the city, including a new Lower Hunter hospital at Metford and upgrades for the city’s two biggest roundabouts on the New England Highway.

Ms Parker told the Mercury her constituents had told her their main priority was for the government to “keep improving our infrastructure to cater for our growth”.

“That’s what we have had to work on and we have come from a position where not enough was done under the Labor government,” Ms Parker said.

Well, here is your chance to let Mr O’Farrell and his cabinet know first hand what Maitland needs.

See our front page story for details of how you can register to attend the forum at the town hall.

If Mr O’Farrell is good enough to visit us we should take the time to not only welcome him, but also ask for things that will make our city a better place to live.