2012 Palerang Council Election

I am standing in the upcoming Palerang council election as part of the Palerang Community Voice group.

I will be joined by fellow Wamboin resident Keith France, and Burra resident Greg George. Helen Montesin and John van der Straaten, also from Wamboin, complete the team. Team members are all involved with a range of community organisations, including the Burra and Wamboin Community Associations, the Bungendore A P & H Society, the Rural Fire Service, Landcare and Scouts Australia.

The candidates who have joined me on the Community Voice ticket all share the same commitment to communication and community engagement that I would like to think has characterised my term on Council. We come from a range of backgrounds, mine in science and technology, Keith’s in accounting, and Greg’s in public policy development. Helen is a statistician and, in his retirement, John breeds alpacas. The common thread is that we are all deeply involved with our respective communities.

The outgoing Council has at times been dominated by the interests of a small number of large property owners, at the expense of ordinary people whose interests in protecting or enhancing the amenity of their chosen place of residence have been largely ignored. The Community Voice team aims to give ordinary people and their communities across Palerang more opportunity to be heard in Council, both on day to day issues and in the finalisation of the new planning legislation (the PLEP and associated PDCP).

I have made a concerted effort during my short time on Council to communicate openly with, and represent the interests of communities throughout Palerang. There is a persistent perception that councillors are parochial creatures, only interested in their own back yard. I hope that through my efforts to represent the interests of residents from all corners of the shire, I have gone some way towards convincing people that not all councillors are tarred with the same brush.

In recent times, Council has made genuine progress in the way it engages with the residents of Palerang. Community workshops and surveys have all brought our Council closer to the communities it serves. The Community Voice team is committed to ensuring that this momentum is not lost.

You can read more about the Community Voice team on our website at http://palerangcommunityvoice.org.au.