Candidates have their final say as countdown begins for tomorrow’s Woollahra local Government election
The snaggers are ready to sizzle and it’s shaping up to be a sunny 20C degrees this Saturday when the candidates for Woollahra Council go head to head in the local Government election
Wentworth Courier
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THE snaggers are ready to sizzle and it’s shaping up to be a sunny 20C degrees this Saturday when the candidates vying for a spot on Woollahra Council lock horns in the local Government election.
The Wentworth Courier has given each party a final say to outline their policies and platforms and has shared some observations to help readers decide which candidates they will choose in the long-awaited showdown.
The Liberal team is being led by incumbent Mayor Toni Zeltzer, who was the face of the Council’s successful fight against the State Government’s forced merger policy.
While the Government has insisted it has ditched the controversial policy for good, the Residents First and Greens candidates say the Liberals will simply revive the policy once the election is over.
Cr Zeltzer said the Woollahra Liberals will never support a merger in any form — not now, not ever and all the candidates have signed a pledge to fight any amalgamation proposal.
Residents First and the Greens were set to pick up some protest votes over the issue as even dyed-in-the-wool Liberal voters were threatening to abandon the Party over forced mergers.
So it will be interesting to see whether they do as well as they would have if the Liberals had pushed ahead with the divisive plan.
The Liberals could potentially lose their majority — if Residents First get five up as they did at the 2012 election — and the Greens get three up, as they did in 2008.
Paddington and Cooper are strong wards for the Greens and they could also get one up in Bellevue Hill, where former councillor Nicola Grieve is running.
In 2008 the Greens got a candidate up in each of those wards; Greens MP David Shoebridge in Cooper, Ms Grieve in Bellevue Hill and Susan Jarnason in Paddington.
Current Paddington Greens councillor Matthew Robertson is expected to be re-elected.
Bellevue Hill is shaping up to be the key battleground ward — if the Liberals fail to get two up in Bellevue Hill, they will struggle to maintain their majority.
Former mayor Isabelle Shapiro is expected to get up but the pressure is on their number two, young lawyer Nicholas Maxwell, to also get elected.
Ms Grieve previously led the campaign against an expansion of the Rose Bay Marina — an issue which has been reignited during this campaign.
The Marina owners have, for the fourth time, proposed a third arm at the Marina.
The Greens and Residents First are stridently opposed to the plan while the Liberals have not formerly stated their position on the issue.
Residents First, led by current Cooper Cr Luise Elsing, has also staked its campaign on its opposition to overdevelopment — particularly six storeys in Double Bay.
The Liberals have been more sympathetic to increased development above the current four-storey height limit in order to continue the revitalisation of Double Bay.
These are the final statements from each party in their own words:
LIBERALS
WOOLLAHRA Liberals listened to our community and were a strong, united force in resisting the amalgamation of Woollahra with neighbouring councils.
Every member of this new Liberal team has signed a promise to reject mergers either forced or voluntary, now and into the future.
The new Woollahra Liberal team has promised to protect our unique environment, the heritage and leafy character of Woollahra.
While new legislation will limit our planning powers after March 2018, we will review and strengthen our planning controls to prevent over development.
We will upgrade our parks and open space, which are used by so many.
Liberals will support local business and deliver value for money for ratepayers. We strongly commit to improving services for the aged and disabled.
Guided by the success of the Kiaora Lands project in Double Bay, with its plaza and new library, we will be pursuing further ventures of collaboration between private enterprise and council to provide income streams beyond our rates revenue.
We have two more private-public partnership projects in the pipeline, which will see cinemas return to Double Bay and a community centre and car park extension at Rose Bay.
We will address traffic congestion by using the harbour as a third lane of New South Head Rd, lobbying for increased ferry services and increased capacity and amenity at our ferry wharves.
— Woollahra Liberal Mayor Toni Zeltzer
RESIDENTS FIRST WOOLLAHRA
RFW was founded in 2003 in response to Liberals running candidates in local council. RFW offers voters an independent group of residents determined to keep major party politics from dominating Woollahra Council and seeks to return control of council to the residents.
RFW has been a long-term, active opponent of any extension of the Rose Bay Marina.
RFW’s Bellevue Hill candidate Lucinda Regan is passionate about supporting the residents, tourists and other users of the Rose Bay promenade and harbour to continue to enjoy the views of the harbour and preserve the swing moorings.
RFW candidates have all signed a pledge to oppose amalgamation, overdevelopment and the expansion of marinas.
They are concerned amalgamations will be revived following the council elections. Vaucluse State Liberal MP Gabrielle Upton last Friday told a budget estimates hearing, in regards to mergers: “I won’t rule them in, I won’t rule them out. There are no plans.”
RFW has a strong voting record against over development including refusing six storey developments in Cross St, Double Bay. Liberals voted in favour of these developments, notwithstanding that they exceeded existing planning controls and were against staff recommendations.
— RFW Cooper ward candidate and Cr Luise Elsing
GREENS
GREENS candidates are standing in all five wards to continue the Greens’ strong record of protecting trees and heritage.
The Greens are offering a real alternative to the Liberal and Residents First parties. Better than a promise or pledge, we have a plan for what we will achieve in the next term, to ensure Woollahra remains a place residents love to call home.
The Greens plan is to continue the fight to keep Woollahra independent, deliver more playgrounds for kids of all ages, complete the roll out of council’s bikepath network, save Woollahra’s impressive urban tree canopy and continue to preserve our area’s heritage without compromise. The Greens’ three-point plan for kids across Woollahra includes auditing current outdoor facilities, assessing gaps for age-groups not currently provided for and prioritising the rollout of eco-friendly play facilities in pocket parks in Paddington, Woollahra and Bellevue Hill.
The NSW government’s proposed Vegetation SEPP will remove tree-protection order functions from local Councils, posing a real threat to Woollahra’s impressive urban canopy.
The Greens will be the strongest advocates for Woollahra’s impressive urban canopy, which more than 80 per cent of residents say makes Woollahra a special leafy place to live.
Pledges and promises are just platitudes; the Greens stand on our record and will continue to oppose overdevelopment and protect Woollahra’ unique built heritage.
Planning should serve people, and preserve the heritage character of our neighbourhoods
-Paddington lead candidate and Cr Matthew Robertson.
LABOR
Adrian Churchill is the only Labor candidate to throw his hat into the ring for the Woollahra election.
Mr Churchill said he was running in the Paddington ward, where he lives, to provide an alternate voice on the Liberal-dominated council.
If elected, he has pledged to prevent overdevelopment while still letting residents renovate; fight to maintain existing bus stops and routes; strive for a comprehensive footpath repair program; preserve Paddington’s heritage and work to reopen the Cutler footway link between Paddington and Darlinghurst.
POLLING PLACES
To check what ward you are in and for a list of polling places, click here.
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