Town planner Andrea McPherson running for Division Six in 2024 council elections

This “busy and active” candidate with experience in town planning and community advocacy wants to bring a more transparent and evidence-based approach to council decision-making.

Experienced town planner and community advocate Andrea McPherson will run for division six councillor in the 2024 Bundaberg council elections.

The latest new candidate to throw their hat in the ring for the Bundaberg 2024 council elections hopes to use their background as a town planner and community advocate to bring a more transparent and ratepayer-focused change to council.

Andrea McPherson has nominated for Division Six councillor, set to run against incumbent Tanya McLoughlin in the local government elections on March 16, 2024.

A resident of Elliot Heads for six years, Ms McPherson worked as a town planner for Mackay and Townsville local councils before taking up roles as a senior town planner for the Qld government, most recently for the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

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Through this experience Ms McPherson said she has seen the benefits that can flow from planning schemes being developed in lockstep with the community’s expectations.

“I’ve worked in state government and local government, so I know how that system works,” she said.

“I can see that there’s lots of opportunities … when planning schemes are being created to engage with communities and find out how places can evolve, and not leave communities behind.”

Ms McPherson said her skills, experience and drive to voice the needs of the community will mean she could bring a new approach to council chambers as division six representative.

Among the initiatives Ms McPherson is keen to explore include reviewing local growers’ water allocations to ensure they are sufficient to service a more diverse range of crops, and leveraging Bundaberg’s proximity to south east Queensland as a recycling and waste management centre for end of life components from sustainable energy projects.

Above all, Ms McPherson said a transparent and universal approach to ensuring proper guidelines are followed is essential to good governance that will deliver benefits to the whole community.

“One thing you can appreciate as a development assessment person, is that … depending on how much noise you make, or who your friends are, then perhaps the process is different for you,” she said.

“And I think that’s wrong, that really … there should be a process that everybody has to follow, regardless of how much money you have.”

Referencing the controversial demolition of historic Anzac Pool, sure to be one of the leading election issues, Ms McPherson said while it was unfortunate that the pool had to be lost for the deficiencies in council’s heritage overlay and decision-making processes to be revealed, a review should ensure that Bundaberg’s heritage is better protected in line with community expectations.

Ms McPherson was one of the founding members of the Elliott Heads Community Group around four years ago.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to find out in this way that there was omissions or problems with (the planning scheme), but the main thing is that people are on the front foot and they’re reviewing it now,” she said.

“I’m pretty sure now that after this situation, they’ll be looking at … how that assessment happened and make sure that the outcome is different, or at least more transparent.”

Ms McPherson was one of the founding members of the Elliott Heads Community Group around four years ago, counting the annual Carols by Glowstick in partnership with Elliot Heads State School, a newsletter facilitating passive surveillance to improve public safety in the community, and the establishment of a local flea market among the group’s signal achievements of which she is most proud.

Ms McPherson counts the annual Carols by Glowstick in partnership with Elliot Heads State School as one of the Elliott Heads Community Group's achievements of which she is most proud.

While the incumbent councillor Tanya McLoughlin “has been great for Elliot Heads”, Ms McPherson said her skills, experience and drive to voice the needs of the community will mean she could bring a different approach to council chambers as division six representative.

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“I pride myself on being busy and active,” she said.

“I think a big part of being a councillor should be letting people know what’s available to them and finding out how to how to match their issues with aspects of council that might be able to make their lives a bit easier and solve some of their problems.”