Dan Stewart seeks third term in 2024 Gympie council election

Division 5 incumbent Dan Stewart is seeking to extend his eight year run on the Gympie council, saying it had ‘lost time’ on one of the region’s most important issues.

Incumbent Division 5 councillor Dan Stewart is seeking a third term on Gympie Regional Council at the March 2024 elections.

The face of Gympie Regional Council has changed considerably in the past eight years, but Dan Stewart hopes to keep at least thing constant after the March 16, election.

The incumbent Division 5 councillor is running to secure a third term in the Division he has represented since 2016, saying his time in office had delivered wins and frustrations.

One of the most prominent of the latter was the lack of progress of finding land for new sporting fields.

Mr Stewart said this was “partly due to opposition from other councillors to a proposal, resulting in lost time”.

In the win column he said Division 5, which stretched from the Toolara Forest to East Deep Creek and then down to Mothar Mountain, had received a number of improvements since he was first elected.

These included bridges rebuilt or replaced on Tandur Rd, Shadbolt Rd, Cullinane Rd, Randwick Rd, Cedar Pocket Rd, Yellow Gully Rd, Ryan Rd, and road upgrades including widening of Gap Rd and East Deep Creek Rd, sealing of Noosa and Tandur Rd, and general upgrades to Hall and Langton Rds.

Dan Stewart was first elected in 2016, and is one of only three elected councillors who have served continuously since then, along with incumbent Mayor Glen Hartwig and former Division 6 incumbent Hilary Smerdon, who this year is vying for Division 1.

“In town there has been renewal of the One Mile playground, new footpaths on Ashford Rd and Wises Rd, which will be extended, new Monkland trunk water main, and new One Mile trunk sewer main and pump station,” Mr Stewart said.

Unfortunately, finding solutions could be “a long time coming, because there are so many demands on the council’s limited resources”.

He said the influx of complaints about roads, which vastly outweighed what the council could afford to fix, reflected this.

“It is easy to complain, but it is more important to find solutions that are affordable and effective,” he said.

Attracting development and supporting the region’s businesses was “important to ensuring the wellbeing of residents”, and the development of a new town plan was “vital for this”.

“Ensuring our development application process is efficient while listening to legitimate concerns of neighbours and the community is central to developing a thriving community.”

Mr Stewart, a member of the Labor Party, moved to the region with his wife and two children in 2000 for work.

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His community involvement in the two decades since includes serving as a soccer club secretary, being president of a school P&C, working as the crew leader in a rural fire brigade, president of a disability service, and volunteer at parkrun.

He wanted to continue working to deliver on his vision for a “a thriving, friendly and healthy community” and finding “workable solutions” for Gympie’s residents.

“(The) council is here to enhance the wellbeing of residents in a safe and vibrant community,” he said.

The elections are being held on Saturday March 16.