Woollahra Mayor Susan Wynne reflects on her biggest challenges and achievements as she leaves public office
Outgoing mayor Susan Wynne reveals her greatest challenges over four years of highs and lows in the top job at one Sydney’s most high-profile councils.
Wentworth Courier
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Outgoing Woollahra mayor Susan Wynne won’t miss everything required from the relentless 24/7 job of running one of Sydney’s most high-profile councils. But citizenship ceremonies are among the official duties she said she would says she will never forget.
“I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve met making them Australian citizens,” Ms Wynne says, describing the intense emotion she has shared with people affirming their commitment to their community.
“You read through the list, and it is the most diverse group of people who bring different ideas and thinking and culture.”
September’s citizenship ceremony was her last, after Ms Wynne announced last October that she would vacate her position as mayor after four years in the top job and 15 in local politics.
She has overseen council during the 2019 bushfires, a global pandemic and through a transformational debate about the future of the eastern suburbs’ urban environment as the NSW Government addresses the housing crisis.
With an office in the Woollahra Council municipal building overlooking Redleaf Beach, Double Bay and the glittering waters of Sydney Harbour beyond, there was at least one compelling reason for Ms Wynne to return to the mayoral role, after first taking up the mantle for a year in 2011 and serving twice as deputy mayor from 2015-17.
But the mother-of-two, who grew up in Sydney’s north shore, joined local politics almost by accident, after getting involved in community activism.
“I didn’t know anything about local government at all,” she says. “Someone on the council at the time said: ‘We’re looking for people to run on the ticket, would you be interested?’ I love learning. So I thought I’d love to do that. And the next thing I’m elected.”
Ms Wynne said once she saw how the on-the-ground nature of local politics directly impacted local people’s lives, she was hooked.
“That connection with people is really, really special,” she said. “There’s so many incredible people that give back to Woollahra and get involved, from the teachers and the students to the community groups and the residents’ associations. So much is achieved through this generosity of spirit we have here.”
Over the four years she most recently served, Ms Wynne says local government has only become more important, driven in large part by the global Covid-19 pandemic, when councils across NSW and Australia navigated the temporary closure of beaches, parks and libraries under lockdown measures.
They were some of her most challenging months in office, she says, all conducted from home.
“It was really tough, implementing decisions that someone else was making. But I think we got through that so well, and I saw the way the staff came together and supported the elderly and made sure they were ringing people. You saw that passion,” she says.
Woollahra Council provided $7.9m in support to residents and local businesses – including $1.1m in domestic violence accommodation – and redirecting library resources to social support for the elderly and vulnerable. Ms Wynne said the council also ensured residents could safely access harbour beaches and local green space for their mental and physical health.
Ms Wynne says she came into office as mayor with a trifecta of priorities – the environment, small businesses and young people – with a specific focus on the council’s role in bringing people together.
“Our biggest role is to create a sense of community,” she says.
The outgoing mayor has used her platform to spotlight local young heroes whose passion has elevated them to national prominence, including consent activist and former Kambala School student Chanel Contos, whose campaign against sexual misconduct has led her to chair the Youth Advisory Committee in Canberra.
Ms Wynne calls Contos an “absolute hero”.
“She has completely changed the landscape … We’re very lucky to have her in our community.”
Ms Wynne said there had been growing awareness in the community of local government’s role, beyond “roads, rates and rubbish”.
“We’re expected to do a lot more and support the community much more,” she says.
Central to this has been the mayor’s advocacy through Woollahra Council on urban planning, as the NSW Liberal Perrottet and now Labor Minns governments pursue ambitious housing targets.
With four Liberal councillors – Ms Wynne, Isabelle Shapiro, Toni Zeltzer and Peter Cavanagh – retiring, the race for mayor, which will be determined on September 26, is wide open. Greens councillors Nicola Grieve and Matthew Robertson will likely nominate a candidate and several Residents First councillors are eyeing the job.
As she looks beyond local politics, Ms Wynne says she’s proud of her achievements modelling civic service to her young adult daughters.
“It is such an honour and it is a challenge. But it is a beautiful challenge,” she says.
“My dad fought in World War II on the Kokoda Track and the Middle East. He was an extraordinary man, and his advice was ‘you have to get involved to give back’. He never got to see me be the mayor, so I feel a bit teary saying that, but hopefully he’s watching from above and pretty proud of what I’ve done giving back the way he did.”
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