Local Government Elections 2021 CANDIDATES’ FORUM Hosted by the Tuross Head Progress Association.
Was held 6-8 pm 15 November 2021
At Kyla Hall, Tuross Head
Running sheet with submitted questions
6:00 Cathy Milliken, THPA President greeting & Acknowledgement of Country
6:10 Bernie O’Neil, Facilitator, introduction, explanation of program
6:15 Mayoral Candidates statements, 2-3 minutes each
Rob Pollock
Mathew Hatcher
Gary Smith
Tubby Harrison
Karyn Starmer
Alison Worthington
David Grace
Note: James Thomson was also invited to the Forum as he has a Group, however, none of that group are standing for Mayor.
VIDEO: The Candidate's statements - given 2 to 3 minutes each.
6:45 Questions: 2 minutes per candidate per answer
VIDEO: the FULL Forum session as an Audio file including Candidate responses to the following questions:
Q1 from Max Castle
The community say "they have lost faith with the Councillors and senior staff of Council". If you are elected how would you improve governance, transparency, communications and restore faith and trust from the community.
Q2 Bernie O’Neil, ABE SHOW OF HANDS
ESC Governance:
· Will you support live streaming of Public Forum and Public Access sessions?
· Will you support Eurobodalla Shire Council rejoining the NSW Local Government Association?
· Will you support the expanding the role and the resourcing of open Advisory Committees of Council as a way of improving community engagement and expert advice?
· Will you support expanding the role of Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee of Council to include a formal review function?
· Do you believe that councillors should personally respond to calls and emails from residents and ratepayers?
· Given community concerns about development in the shire, will you support council developing a shire wide plan for sustainable development?
Q3 Fitzroy Boulting
Kyla Park Heritage Grazing Lands: Would Candidates like to state for the record what iron-clad guarantees they are prepared to offer to our community to substantively protect and preserve the unspoiled beauty and Heritage status of our much-loved Grazing Lands and commit to not changing the status of any part of those lands to general purpose or similar?
Q4 Michael Holland
What will you do, within the role of local government, to support the opening of the new Eurobodalla Hospital to Level 4 services?
Q5 Mylene Boulting SHOW OF HANDS & COMMENT/S
Councillors from our neighbouring Councils have the opportunity to talk directly with their constituents through a series of scheduled community meetings. If elected, would you support a similar program of quarterly meetings between Councillors and the community to openly discuss issues relevant to them?
Q6 Cathy Milliken
The 2019/20 bushfires exposed inadequate disaster planning and emergency response capacity in the shire. Tuross Head and other villages have no evacuation centres. What would you do about this?
Q7 Simon Cox SHOW OF HANDS & COMMENT/S
Currently the decision on material amendments to an old DA for the major housing development on the Coila Lake foreshore is delegated to council staff. Some years ago, Council had made a commitment to the community of Tuross Head to present the DA to Council for determination. Will you support Councillors taking back this delegation and making decisions on all major development applications to ensure community, cultural and environmental impacts are rigorously assessed before proceeding?
Q8 Tuross resident
Eurobodalla is poorly served with public transport options. For example, there is only the school bus service from Tuross Head to Moruya. What commitment will you make to improve public transport for the community? Questions from the floor. Closure of Visitor Centres Preference distribution of Candidates Education and support of TAFE
