The two Moreton Bay candidates elected unopposed talk about major issues facing the new council

Two of Queensland’s newly elected councillors are pushing for more transparency in council.

Re-elected Moreton Bay councillors Denise Sims and Matt Constance.

THE class of Moreton Bay Council 2020-24 will have to address two significant issues early in its term that go to the heart of many concerns held by the wider community.

Fixing or creating a new the planning scheme will be high on the new council’s agenda, as will reforming its meeting policy, which will go a long way to improving transparency and efficiency.

Two councillors – Denise Sims and Matt Constance – have already been elected for the 2020-2024 term after running unopposed in their divisions.

They were among several councillors across the state to run uncontested, along with 15 uncontested mayors.

Moreton Bay’s outgoing council, at its final meeting on February 25, endorsed in-principle a new meeting framework aimed at improving transparency and efficiency.

It will be up to the new council to finalise the details.

“Anything that builds trust, transparency and confidence with our community, we need to do and has to be the priority,” Cr Sims said.

Cr Constance said the process to improve meeting procedures and general governance began last year with the Grassroots report into council operation.

“We’ve got the new CEO (Greg Chemello) as well, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience with the reforms he undertook — and laid the foundations for — in Ipswich,” he said.

“We look forward to tapping his knowledge and bringing some new ideas to really open up that transparency for the community.”

Cr Sims added: “I think it’s a real fresh start and Greg brings that with a wealth of knowledge but with that is an experience and the calmness that he brings to the room”.

“He has a really good BS meter and I think that is really good for steering the ship.

“I know that he’d be looking forward to working with the new council.”

Both Cr Sims and Constance said they had raised concerns in the past about problems with the current planning scheme that had caused a lot of anger in the community.

“I’ve raised on numerous occasions publicly that we seem to be at odds with our community with the planning scheme,” Cr Sims said.

“And there was a resolution tabled at the last meeting (for the new council to review the current planning scheme) and I’m looking forward to that.

“I think that’s something we need to progress.”

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Cr Constance agreed the planning scheme was a big issue that needed to be addressed by the new council.

“Service stations in particular have been an issue for Denise in her part of the world,” he said.

“In the Hills District, this subdivision by stealth thing that’s going on with granny flats just appearing and then being rented out has been skirting the approvals process.”