Real Experience

Decision maker and advocate in Sorell Council planning and community development

Eight years as an elected Councillor proudly supporting and overseeing many initiatives across our communities including:

  • Housing estates and infill adding 1100+ new homes since 2018; around 2500 increase in population and 88% jump in property values 2019-2026; Sorell bypass and local road, stormwater and footpath upgrades, Active Transport and Social Strategy, Sorell East growth area
  • 20-year Southern Beaches Plan co-design underway – a process I have long championed – creating a shared community vision and program that will improve liveability, increase certainty and lower costs long-term; Park Beach to Cafes community-led improvements
  • A local youth program with dedicated council staffing, Fitzies Youth Hub, outreach activity program, seeking young people’s perspectives in decision making
  • South East Stadium and South East Sports Precinct at Pembroke Park, Southern City BMX track, Pembroke Parkrun, Southern Beaches Swim Centre, Dodges Ferry Football Oval improvements
  • Full time NRM Facilitator, NRM Advisory Group, 10-year Natural Resources Management Strategy, 15-year Weed Management Strategy, Open Space Strategy, Red Handfish stewardship, Blue Lagoon and other reserve management plans, new Craigs Hill Bushland Reserve at Boomer Bay
  • South East Jobs Hub pilot, Business Employment South East, South East Jobs Hub and Study Hub; Sorell Memorial Hall extension and new Sorell History Rooms; increased social services including the Services Australia and Service Tasmania offices and Urgent Care Clinic at Sorell
  • Strong advocate for respectful behaviour and responsible council decision making; secured unanimous Sorell Council support for the Lift the Tone campaign (pledge May 2025), the local Governance Framework (adopted 2024, updated 2026), and Election Caretaker Policy (2026), recognition of trailblazer Sheila Clark and all women elected by the Sorell community since 1960 (2023, 2026) and encouragement for councillors to hold Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (2026).

Eight years serving on Council’s Audit Panel, gaining detailed insight into Sorell Council‘s strategies, finances and asset management as well as how Sorell Council performs compared with other Councils.

  • Highly experienced expert panel members providing excellent oversight and strategic advice
  • High confidence in Sorell Council’s diligent financial management and asset management
  • A strong risk management framework and internal audit program

Eight years serving on the Sorell Planning Authority, a challenging role requiring Councillors to set aside our community focus to instead only consider the state government’s planning scheme rules.

  • Rezoning, new subdivisions, hazard mapping, population growth, advocacy and long-term planning for more liveable, connected and thriving communities
  • Working through complex proposals where the Tasmanian Planning Scheme does not yet match community expectations
  • Name change from Development Assessment Special Committee to Sorell Planning Authority to describe the role in a more practical way, an initiative I instigated in 2022/23 because plainer naming underpins clearer purpose.
  • Advocating for further improvements through strategic land use planning and local government reform to enable Councillors to better represent community interests for the public good, especially where current planning rules are falling well short of community expectations. The Local Government Association of Tasmania’s housing position statement is one example.

Always speaking up for lived experience, local know-how and a stronger community voice in council planning and project management. Stronger relationships and more effective engagement is now a feature of:

  • Council’s strategic and financial planning, Southern Beaches Plan and Communication and Engagement Strategy updates in 2020 and 2025
  • Sorell Open Space Strategy 2020, Snake Hollow Playground and other upgrades, Dodges Ferry-Carlton loop paths (securing the extension along Carlton Beach Road to link the 7km roadside path in addition to the beach walk)
  • Upgraded stormwater and wastewater management, foreshore access and coastal outfall upgrades, Blue Lagoon and other reserve management plans, kerbside green waste and FOGO collection, and the long-awaited statewide Recycle Rewards drink container refund scheme
  • Reinstating Council’s Natural Resource Management position in 2021 (full time from 2026), focus on the unique Red Handfish, biodiversity, threatened species and weed management, NRM Advisory Group established November 2023 and refined 2026
  • Railway Carriage Shed restoration, planning and funding the Community Cultural Precinct and creative hub, Sorell 200 history commemorations, timeline panels, local identity youth/arts projects
  • Canvassing more ways to have your say – community advisory and reference groups for seniors, young people, service providers, natural resources, cultural precinct and a new Access & Inclusion Advisory Group, with youth and heritage/arts) – encouraging strength-based community development, placemaking design and user-centred project management

Always learning and curious about the ‘why’, I stay well informed, attend councillor training workshops and Local Government Association of Tasmania conferences. As Vice President of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (Tasmania) I closely follow what other councils are doing and work with mayors and councillors across the state.

Experienced leader with local, state and national organisations

Diverse public sector, business and freelance experience including strategic communication, spatial information, writing, editing, publishing, community development, public education, staff development, taxation, conveyancing and retail:

  • Freelance writer and editor: wordsmith for The Tasmanian Tuxedo magazine; editor of the Pitt Water Chronicles history journals; articles for The Sorell Times and The Tasman Gazette 2011-2018 and for LOIS Magazine 2016-2018; Sorell Council 2017 monthly Mayor’s column
  • Past Board member of Bendigo Bank – Community Bank Sorell (Company Secretary), and the Australian Neighbourhood Houses & Centres Association.
  • Elected member of the Community Bank National Council for three remarkable years 2019-2021, representing community bank directors across Tasmania and regional Victoria. Fascinating insights working alongside directors from all states and territories, Bendigo Bank board members and senior executives, one of Australia’s biggest banks and awarded the most trusted bank.
  • Director of nrico geospatial 2006-2012; partner Dodges Ferry Online 2012-2018; director of CPS Credit Union 1998-2000
  • ATO Senior Communication Adviser 1996-2010, a Hobart-based national role working in Canberra and all states; internal communication and network strategy specialist
  • ATO tax assessor, staff development and national projects 1983-1996, established the inaugural Tax Officer Development Program in Tasmania, the Graduate Recruitment Program and Continuing Professional Development Program, pilot Tax File Number School Program and national implementation, public relations manager for the ATO in Tasmania
  • First jobs at Fitzgerald’s Record Bar and legal registration clerk at Piggott Wood & Baker

Current member of the Governance Institute of Australia, the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (Tasmania), the Tasmanian Council of Social Services and former member of Volunteering Tasmania and the Australian Institute of Community Directors.

Active volunteer with Dodges Ferry Primary School Association (past president, secretary, treasurer and now elected community representative and deputy chair), Okines Community House (past president, Film Society treasurer, Okines 2040 projects, breakfast club, food co-op), Sorell History Society (Pitt Water Chronicles and website editor), Southern Beaches History Society (Carlton River History Festival), Southern Beaches Landcare/Coastcare (past member), Southern Beaches Neighbourhood Watch.

Founding member of Dodges Ferry Film Society, Okines Food Co-op and South East United FC, former vice president of Dodges Ferry Junior Soccer Club.

Active community volunteer in Sorell and the Southern Beaches for 15+ years

I’m a regular volunteer and occasional walker at Pembroke Parkrun, part of the global network of free 5km run/walk courses, I first became involved with Dodges Ferry Primary School Association (then the P&F) in 2008 (past president, secretary, treasurer) and I’m now an elected community representative and deputy chair. Partnering with the school, Council and other stakeholders, the DFPSA’s Outdoor Classroom working group developed a 10 year plan to activate learning in the school’s wonderful beach and bush setting. Through grants, fundraising and volunteer dedication we have funded Lagoon Park play ground equipment, organised the shelter shed upgrade and Lagoon Park mosaic panels, established the bush playground, and designed and established the very popular Community Loop Track around the school (made possible by a Tas Community Fund grant, terrific local expertise and wonderful teamwork). I’ve also volunteered at many working bees, amazing school fairs, school lunch program, BBQs and other fundraisers over the years.

Okines Community House since 2009 - I first helped out with breakfast club when my boys were at primary school and Okines was still a virtual house, running breakfast club from the Dodges Ferry Football Clubrooms. I was elected to the board in 2014 and as president 2015-2022, I’m also a founding member of Okines Food Co-op, and a founding member and treasurer of Dodges Ferry Film Society.

Through my volunteer roles with Okines I became a member of the community-based local action group formed in 2017 to work with TasCOSS and the State Government to develop and design the South East Employment Hub pilot. It was an idea that came from the community, developed by the community and the group then helped oversee implementation in partnership with Colony47, SERDA (South East Regional Development Association) and Sorell Council hosted SERDA staff. The SEE Hub success is now mirrored in similar community focussed jobs hubs set up around the state, and from 1 July 2022 SEE Hub evolved into the state-funded Business & Employment Southeast Tasmania, continuing to combine business advice, workforce planning and job seeker support across the south east.

I love learning about and sharing our rich past and amazing natural places. I’m a volunteer of many years with Sorell Historical Society, Southern Beaches Historical Society, Southern Beaches Landcare/Coastcare, serving as SHS Vice President, web developer for SBLC, SHS and SBHS, designer and editor of the Pitt Water Chronicles history journals as well as The Dodges Ferry I Knew and Shifting Sands. I’ve helped design community info signs about Okines Community House, Carlton River wetlands, the Princess Royal landing and Samuel Thorne Reserve at Lewisham, Carlton River Cemetery, the School-Community Loop Track around Dodges Ferry Primary School, and Lagoon Farm at Okines Beach (update in progress). I’m a former vice president of Dodges Ferry Junior Soccer Club and a founding member of South East United FC.

When we moved to Dodges Ferry in 1992 one of my first memories is being handed the local Neighbourhood Watch newsletter at our door - no postal delivery so no letterboxes back then - and starting to feel part of a community thanks to the care for one another and local knowledge shared. Now I’m a Neighbourhood Watch Tasmania member and founding member of the re-formed Southern Beaches Neighbourhood Watch Group, facilitated a community leaders youth forum in 2020 and awareness raising through a program of activities including Cuppa with a Cop, a local newsletter, street signs and the Neighbourhood Watch Facebook page for Midway Point, Sorell and the Southern Beaches.