People & Place

A truly shared vision creates better outcomes for the public good and makes best use of scarce resources.

I work hard to listen to community, learn about local government, and I’ve attended almost every Councillor meeting, workshop and training opportunity since 2018. I enjoy serving on the Sorell Council Audit Panel, providing oversight to Council’s finance, risk and management processes, and giving confidence that Council has top notch financial and asset management. 

Council’s job is improving community wellbeing through connecting community, managing public places, local roads, paths, public spaces and local services.  A Councillor’s job is to look ahead, listen well and make decisions in the best interests of the whole community and future generations. It’s often tough to make choices between what people want and what we can afford. Councils do better when listening well, tapping into the local expertise and lived experience, creating better results at lower cost.

Our community deserves a Council that will:

  • Continue strong financial and asset management; measure social impact as well as financial or project outcomes
  • Build a heritage and arts hub in Sorell designed by community to tell our unique story and become a drawcard for locals and visitors alike
  • Follow through on Council’s 2020 Open Space Strategy, improve our public spaces including walking and cycling tracks, establish a destination dog park as a drawcard for dog owners and visitors
  • Respect the character locals love, protect natural and built heritage, create economies of scale and stronger engagement by working to a consistent long term plan
  • Add a placemaking approach to Council’s engagement and development strategies; create Town Teams and master plans for each township; tap into local expertise and more actively support volunteering, the life blood of communities
  • Increase community grants that foster a stronger local identity and community resilience
  • Lobby for regular public buses for Primrose Sands and lower bus fares for all, introduce shuttle buses from outer areas into Sorell
  • Continue to advocate for genuine local government reform, for better resources, for redesign not mergers
  • Support ALGA’s campaign for an increase in federal government assistance grants to all councils

There are many ways to achieve these outcomes depending on what best serves community wellbeing. For example: youth-led working groups co-design community facilities, electric vehicle charging points in our townships, following through on Council’s 2020 Open Space Strategy and Sorell 22 aspirations, a heritage/arts/visitor strategy that informs the co-design and build of a heritage and arts centre at Sorell celebrating our local story from deep time to today.