Cr Cox said she was proud of the many things the council had achieved, including doubling the footpath budget, building new cycleways and introducing FOGO.

"When I first was elected to council I had a three-year-old who was in preschool and our community was asking for a pedestrian crossing to get across the road from the preschool to the shops - and we still don't have it," she said.

"And you think if you can't get a pedestrian crossing when you're on the city council, how do you do it?"

"I do think local government would be stronger if it was professionalised, if these meetings were held in business hours," she said.

"If we had an office and time in our days to respond to constituents, to meet with constituents, that's what they expect us to do.

"But, for most people, what we are paid, it's a reality that you have to have another job.

"And what the community expects and what we're able to do, it's really difficult. You've got a choice between working evenings and weekends and burning yourself out or not meeting people's expectations and that's really tough."

Fellow Greens Cr Blakey noted the collegiate nature of the current council make-up.

"I've really felt I've been incredibly lucky that we've been able to find common ground and work together with that focus on the benefit for the community," she said.

"I recognise that being a city council is an incredibly under-resourced role with great community expectations, as there should be.

"I want to thank you all for the great learning experiences and the great collaborative work that I've been able to be part of over the last seven years.

"Those seven years that have included for me having a baby and for this council having a pandemic that disrupted how we do things. In some ways it led to some innovations and in other ways, it made it incredibly difficult."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 13 August 2024.