Heidi Westbrook running for Division 4 in South Burnett elections

Kingaroy businesswoman Heidi Westbrook describes herself as a “passionate community member” with four values she believes the current council lacks.

Heidi Westbrook.

Kingaroy businesswoman Heidi Westbrook describes herself as a “passionate community member” and has four specific values she believes the current council lacks.

Ms Westbrook grew up in the South Burnett before moving around Queensland, meeting her husband Mark and having four children together.
The family eventually moved back to Kingaroy in 2022 and decided they were here to stay.

The 46-year-old opened up a hair salon and became active in the community before thinking about running for council.

“Being a hairdresser in town, you hear a lot from the community and how they feel about certain things,” she said.

Ms Westbrook said she also noticed people did not seem to stick around for long after moving here and wanted to help make the region an attractive place to live.

“Where are those people, once upon a time, where you come and you never left because it was such a cool town back then,” she said.

Heidi Westbrook is running for Division 4 in the South Burnett Regional Council elections.

Ms Westbrook said she also drives past and questions why council-owned land isn’t being used for the community, one area she hopes to investigate if elected.

“Find things that we can do that’s not going to cost more … so let’s have a look at the things that we’ve already got here that we aren’t utilising to the best that they can be used,” she said.

“I would love to see big spaces utilised.”

Her campaign consists of four values; integrity, transparency, inclusivity and accountability, which she said the current council lacked.

“The transparency is a big issue and somewhat the accountability and definitely the inclusivity,” Ms Westbrook said.

“When I talk about inclusivity, I’m talking about bringing everyone together, uniting together as one.

“The council is a central part of the community … there needs to be a change in how we are interacting.”

The hairdresser said that for a council to work a “team mindset” was crucial.

“I’m not an individual sports person, I’m a team player in all things that I do,” Ms Westbrook said.

“It’s important to see the values in other people as well as my own.”

The South Burnett Regional Council elections are on March 16, 2024.