Sally Townley to run as an independent in the March NSW state election

A Mid-North Coast deputy mayor angered by ‘usurping of public land for private profit‘ will contest the March state election, joining the growing ranks of independent women standing.

Coffs Harbour Deputy Mayor Sally Townley will contest the March state election.

Dr Townley joins the growing ranks of independent female candidates, buoyed by the success of the teal candidates in the federal election, including the successful Caz4Cowper campaign by Carolyn Heise which put The Nationals on notice.

Her key platforms include affordable housing and climate action and putting a halt to what she describes as the current government’s “usurping of public land for private profit”, describing plans for private high-rise residential apartment blocks at the Coffs Jetty Foreshore as a prime example of this.

She is an environmental scientist and small business owner and was elected to Coffs Harbour council in 2012.

Dr Townley is no stranger to the state campaign trail, after running against current Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh in the last state election.

Sally Townley will run as an independent candidate for the seat of Coffs Harbour in the March, 2023 NSW state election. Picture: Janine Watson.

At one stage a Coffs Coast Advocate reader poll had her ahead of first time candidate Mr Singh for The Nationals, following the retirement of long serving member Andrew Fraser.

Mr Fraser served as the Nationals Member for Coffs Harbour for 28 years and is now the NSW Nationals Chairman.

They’ve been on the opposite side of the debate on many controversial issues over the years, including greater regulation of the the lucrative blueberry industry.

Mr Singh was the founding director of Oz Group Co-op and continues to have interests in properties and a number of trusts.

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh with NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet.

They’ve also clashed on the city’s new civic building Yarrila Place, now well underway in the CBD which will house the new council chambers, library and art gallery.

Coffs Harbour City councillor Tony Judge is running in the March state election for Labor.

Tony Judge will run in the NSW state election.

Dr Townley also wants to see greater cooperation between local and state government and says for decades Coffs Harbour has been pulled in different directions.

“There is a real opportunity for a community-minded representative to leverage both levels of government for shared outcomes,” she said.

“Instead, we see party representatives unable to make their own decisions and a delivery model of random pre-election cash splashes.”

She says bringing money into the community is always welcome but potential pork-barrelling projects, which sometimes lack a business case or a well-developed plan, can actually cost the community money in the long run.

“The boat ramp is a good example of this,” she said.

In the Port Macquarie electorate, Mayor Peta Pinson has announced she will be running - making the announcement at a public rally against state government plans to upgrade the town’s breakwall.

Ms Pinson says if elected she has “full intentions” of carrying out the roles of both mayor and State Member for Port Macquarie.

Elected to the mayoral role as an independent, Ms Pinson said the rally, attended by more than 2000 people, was a “fitting time” to announce she had recently joined The Nationals and would be up against coalition partner and ex-Nationals member Leslie Williams who quit the party in 2020 partly over the handling of the state government’s koala policy.

Dr Townley will officially launch her campaign on Wednesday, February 8, at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden in Coffs Harbour at 11am.