Ros Heit runs for Division 6 in South Burnett council election

When Ros Heit was unseated by Scott Henschen by four votes at the 2020 South Burnett council election, she did not believe she would run again, but ‘poor management and disunity’ in the council have changed her mind.

Former councillor Ros Heit is running again for Division 6 in the upcoming election. Photo: Contributed

When former South Burnett councillor Ros Heit was unseated by Scott Henschen by only four votes in 2020 after two terms as the Division 6 councillor, she did not believe she was going to run again.

“I spent several weeks thinking ‘shall I or shan’t I?’ and weighing up the pros and cons,” she said this week.

“I decided I care too much about this region and I thought I have to stand and I’ll give it my best shot.”

Born in England, Ms Heit moved to Australia during a gap year after she had finished university and has lived here ever since.

“I’ve lived in Wooroolin for over 30 years … married local,” she said.

Since moving to the South Burnett, she has been active in the community, starting the Wondai Parkrun and is the director of the Wondai running festival

“I’m also patron of the Wondai Art Gallery... I’m treasurer of the South Burnett rail trail users association because I think this is a fantastic asset for our region,” she said.

“I’m really involved with the community and I really care about this region and making good decisions for its future.”

After successfully running for council is 2013, Ms Heit is proud of the work she did during her two terms.

“I’m really proud of the fact that we really did a lot of work, promoting the smaller communities.

“I wrote the funding submission to get the dog park in Wondai which I’m very proud of because dogs are an important part of people's lives.”

Ros Heit is back and running for Division 6 in the upcoming South Burnett Regional Council election.

One of her proudest achievements in council was implementing a security camera system in Wondai.

“It is actually a really good system, the police love it. It makes people feel very much more secure when there’s a good camera system... that’s probably the thing I’m most proud of.”

In the 2020 council election, Ms Heit looked to secure a third term after winning a small majority of the votes, however after a recount, Mr Henschen was declared the winner by four votes.

“Yes it was disappointing … but I think I continued doing more with the community since than before so there’s always a silver lining to a lot of things that are disappointing at the time.”

When asked about Mr Henschen’s performance as Division 6 councillor, she declined to answer.

“You’ll have to ask him or ask other people.”

She said the reason for running again was partly due to poor management.

“I feel that there’s been some very poor governance. I’m always disappointed if a project comes to council and it was costed at $8 million and it ended up at $19 million.

“Where is the budgeting and costing? That should be done before a decision is made.

“I think it’s well known that there’s been a fair bit of disunity and I don’t think that makes for good governance for the region,” she said.

“I’m still drawn back to this region and the fact that I want to make it a good region as it can be and the best place to live.”

The South Burnett Regional Council elections will be held on March 16, 2024.

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