Tim Murray, Michelle Gray, Ludovico Fabiano: Meet Waverley’s new councillors

Waverley’s mayoral election was only last night but our new leader has wasted no time in pulling punches when it comes to overdevelopment.

UPDATE

Re-elected Waverley mayor Paula Masselos has warned developers to heed local planning controls when it comes to projects in the east.

Labor’s Mayor Masselos and deputy Elaine Keenan of The Greens were both re-elected by their peers during on Monday night.

Mayor Masselos said Waverley was “becoming overdeveloped” and vowed to fight back.

“If a developer is going to build in accordance with the LEP (Local Environment Plan) I’m happy to work with them. But when they’re going to build something twice the height limit there’s going to be a fight,” Mayor Masselos said.

Paula Masselos has been re-elected as the mayor of Waverley council

Mayor Masselos said council would be taking a renewed look at the planning controls to see how they can reign in the kinds of proposals being lodged so they are suitable for the area.

Since state government stripped councils of many of their powers, development controls are the main way they can exert some authority.

“I am not anti-development but it’s got to be appropriate and sustainable,” she said.

“We are becoming overdeveloped.”

The Masselos council will oversee the completion of two long hoped for projects – the Bondi Pavillion and Boot factory innovation hub redevelopments.

There will also be a strong focus on climate initiatives and supporting the community as we emerge from the pandemic.

EARLIER

While Waverley re-elected several familiar faces in the 2021 local government elections, there’s some exciting fresh blood poised to serve on the council.

The three new councillors have already got some big plans on the boil for their first term in local government.

Tim Murray has run for Wentworth twice and has now been elected to Waverley Council. Picture: Monique Harmer

TIM MURRAY

With just under three years to make a difference in this council term, Labor’s Tim Murray got the ball rolling early and has already assembled a team of experts to help kick sustainability goals for apartment dwellers.

Existing strata laws make it difficult for unit residents to access solar power in their homes.

However, Cr Murray’s team of lawyers, solar panel installers and industry experts are creating a way to smooth the process with the plan to pilot it in Waverley before sharing their knowledge with councils Australia-wide.

“I would like to have a motion put to council at the first meeting in February to really get that started,” Cr Murray said.

“We will be doing two things – solar on strata and community batteries.

“The batteries are going to be very much be an experiment in how we finance, who we work with.

“Should Labor be elected at the next federal election, we believe Waverley will be one of the first councils to be granted one from the federal government.”

The community batteries allow up to 250 households to be powered from the one battery.

Though homes with solar panels can elect to put power into the battery it is not essential and households without panels can choose to simply draw from it.

“I think it’s important to join council with a purpose,” Cr Murray said.

“I really want to get fired up on this stuff. I am expecting this policy to really roar and it will definitely be my core focus for the first term.”

Michelle Gray is an exciting new addition to the council.

MICHELLE GRAY

There’s nothing like studying the intricacies of the Waverley planning controls to keep you awake during night feeds.

Labor’s Michelle Gray is a skilled lawyer, specialising in class actions and advising on major infrastructure projects, experience she can bring to the council.

So she wasn’t about to let having a newborn, her youngest of three children under five, stop her from contesting and winning the election.

“This is my first foray into anything government-related so I have lots to learn and I’m getting through big piles of reading material,” Cr Gray said.

“I think it’s so important people like me, mums and younger people, get involved so councils do truly represent people at all stages of life.

“My partner was like to me, ‘You can’t be serious about taking it on at this stage of your life’ but I really wanted to set an example for my kids – so I just said yes.

“I became concerned about climate change and I was worried about leaving the planet in a worse place for my children and their children and so I wanted to use my skills to help.”

Cr Gray said her areas of interest included sustainable waste management and support for Cr Murray’s solar schemes.

She is also concerned about overdevelopment and believes planning controls are a good place to nip it in the bud.

“The problem is a lot of the powers have been taken away from councils by the State Government,’’ she said.

“But I’m a lawyer by trade so I want to make sure council is looking closely at legislation to see if there’s anything we can do to push back at a local level against unwanted and unsustainable development.

“I’ve barely got my council email address turned on and I already have people raising issues with me about developments next door and down the road.”

Ludovico Fabiano is a first time politician.

LUDOVICO FABIANO

Even if you don’t know Bondi resident of almost 30 years Ludovico Fabiano, there’s a good chance you know the four-legged members of his family – border collies Blue and Bob.

The trio is a regular fixture along the promenade and the dogs relish the pats that and attention that come their way.

The Greens councillor is retired after a four-decade career in pharmaceuticals, starting out as a bench chemist and culminating as a regulatory affairs associate where he worked with the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Despite no longer works in pharmaceuticals, Cr Fabiano’s insight will no doubt come in handy as the council navigates helping the community emerge from the pandemic.

He said planning was crucial and would do his part to make sure Waverley would not repeat mistakes made by other governments at a local level.

“With the current saga happening now, how it’s been managed is not helping – we knew weeks ago, months ago things were going to get bad and yet they were not able to make a plan to keep people safe,” Cr Fabiano said.

“Free, accessible rapid antigen testing should have been made available sooner – allowing people to do that quick test instead of the current situation with the testing queues.”

As well as preserving green space and increasing the number of trees and gardens in the area, Cr Fabiano’s core priorities included Bondi Rd.

“I’d like to see Bondi Rd looking pristine in a way that includes lots of plants but that also retains the heritage of the area,’ he said.

“In term of my plans, overdevelopment is No. 1 but also up there is creating a system like they’ve done in Randwick and Woollahra to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill and contributing to methane.

“Waverley already has community composting scheme which is great but we want to expand on that make it bigger – especially as we have a lot of businesses that have food waste.”

The proud grandfather who hails from Italian, Russian and Ukrainian heritage said his time on Waverley’s Multicultural Advisory Committee would also hold him in good stead.

“I like working with people it doesn’t matter what background – we just get our heads together to work out what is best for all of the community and not just one group.”