The incoming Muswellbrook councillors will have a lot on their shoulders besides the three R's of councils.
Along with roads, rates and rubbish, the new councillors will have to ensure their community doesn't get left behind in the nation's relentless march towards a net-zero economy.
Muswellbrook will have a large field of candidates for a regional local government area, with 26 people competing for 12 positions. To put that in perspective, neighbouring Singleton has 12 candidates vying for 10 spots and Upper Hunter Shire has 11 people contesting for nine seats.
While the shire's neighbouring councils have several incumbent councillors who have decided not to re-contesting, only two of Muswellbrook's current councillors are not standing.
Mayor Steve Reynolds is stepping down due to medical reasons, while stalwart Brett Woodruff's name is off the ballot paper for the first time in 25 years.
Speaking with the Newcastle Herald in the hours after announcing his mayoral retirement, Cr Reynolds highlighted during his time steering the ship Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton had both graced Muswellbrook's footpaths.
The town and its surrounding region has quickly become the face of Australia's energy transition.
Although politicians will blow in to town to spruik their grand plans, it will be councillors who are left to deal with the day-to-day needs of the people directly affected by the energy transition.
Many of the big decisions will be made far above the heads of Muswellbrook councillors, but it will be upon them to loudly advocate for the best outcome for the community by pushing back against the one-size-fits all approach and presenting the purse-string holders with solutions that are custom-made for their region.
The council has already shown that such a model can work. It was instrumental in developing the pitch for the Bells Mountain pumped hydro project.
The $190-million development, which will repurpose an old mining void, was picked up by AGL and Idemitsu and was recently declared a state significant project by the NSW government.
The resource sector still makes up a huge portion of the local Muswellbrook economy, but the Mount Arthur coal mine will close in 2030, taking with it around 2000 jobs, while Bayswater Power Station is scheduled to close in 2033 at the latest.
Already the business community has raised concerns about the number of "drive-in, drive-out" miners, who live in places like Scone, Denman or Newcastle due to a lack of housing or other livability factors.
The incoming councillors will also have to make the most of the Muswellbrook bypass and decide if it will present any opportunities to town planners.
A hyperlocal issue that may raise its head this term is the Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) kerbside bin collection, as the community adapts to the smaller bin for general waste, which will only be collected every second week.
