Dawn Crichlow, the veteran councillor who has served Southport since 1991 and was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 2006 for service to the community, is officially retiring.

Confirming her decision not to stand as the representative for division six in the Gold Coast City Council elections in March 2020, she says she has not lost her passion for helping people, but has lost the ability to make a difference anymore.

“I’ve been cut off at the knees,” she says, sitting in her Southport office where the walls are completely covered with plaques and certificates commemorating her community service.

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“There is a group of 10 councillors and they have their agenda and if you are one of the five trying to vote against that, you never win. I can’t get anything through anymore.

“I’ve realised now that if I want to keep trying to help people the way that I always have, I’m better off working from the outside as a resident rather than inside as a councillor.

“It is sad that it ends this way, but I’m an old lady now. How long do you keep fighting an unwinnable battle?

“It’s my great disappointment.”

Dawn says the Gold Coast City Council has become highly politicised, to the detriment of the city.

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She says the focus has moved away from the traditional “rates, road and rubbish” and she was tired of being frustrated by inaction.

“The days when we had 15 independent, individual councillors are gone. There have been times when a group would regularly agree on certain issues, but it was never like this.

“Even back in the early 2000s when we had ‘the Bloc’, you could still get stuff through. It’s not like that now.

“We’ve gone away from the rates, road and rubbish that we’re meant to look after, and it’s to our detriment. Now we’re chasing cruise ship terminals and an arts complex and integrated tourism hubs. Is that really our job? Who is fixing the footpaths? Who is looking after the actual residents?

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“We used to have a two-man gang in Southport to fix potholes, paint seats, clear dead trees — they were our caretakers. But that role was voted out. All it took was those 10 votes and they were gone.

“Residents aren’t even encouraged to speak to their local councillor anymore, they’re told to send an email.

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“The problem is not that our city has a population of 600,000, the problem is the way the system is run. It’s bureaucracy gone mad. If you’re not voted down you’re strangled by red tape.”

Dawn says she believes the mayor now has too much power over the city.

She says the system has been unbalanced since 2012, when then-Premier Campbell Newman changed the Local Government Act.

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“The worst decision ever made was when Campbell Newman allowed mayors to direct their officers. The mayor used to only be able to direct the CEO, but now he can tell any person to do this or do that. He sets the budget now as well.

“It’s too much power in one person.”

Dawn says her feud with Mayor Tom Tate was a direct result of the changes to the Local Government Act.

“It was the 31st of July, 2017. We had a civic reception at the aquatic centre because State Cabinet was meeting there the next day. I saw the Premier and went over to talk to her about three-storey height limits at The Spit.

“She started asking me questions for about 20 minutes and it really made sense, and I got all excited. I saw the Mayor by himself and I said ‘guess what? I think we’re going to get a three-storey height limit at The Spit’.

“And that was the end of my relationship with the Mayor.

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“The very next day at 10am the Premier announced the height limit and then she came upstairs here to have a meeting with the councillors at 2pm. I took up a jar of lollies and I think that upset the Mayor even more.

“When she left he rang up the director of economic development and major projects and told him to draw up a plan to use Carey Park, the bowls club and the tennis centre for an integrated resort development.

“See, had he not had that power to direct, it would have had to go through the CEO as a report and it would have shown it was heritage-listed and blah blah blah. It never would have happened.

“So that was our bitter kiss goodbye.”

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Despite almost 30 years representing Southport, Dawn says she never considered a tilt at the mayoralty herself.

She says her interest has always been in the work, not the power.

“I never even considered being mayor. I’d rather eat a meat pie than lobster. I’m a worker. All I really wanted to do was help people.

“You see these new councillors come in and they think their poo doesn’t stink.

“Then they get their gold card at The Star and the little perks that come with office.

“I’m just not interested in that side.”

While Dawn is concerned about who will replace her, she says remaining would be futile.

She says she will continue to work for Southport but under the auspices of community or charity groups.

“I was determined to stand down in 2016. But then I had this Chinese woman come in one day and she asked me to endorse her for my seat. I asked her where she lived and she said Budds Beach. I asked her where she worked and she said for her brother in Brisbane.

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“I said ‘so you don’t live in the area, you don’t work in the area and you want me to endorse you?’ She said, ‘I have lots of money, I can stand’.

“I just called out (to long-time secretary), ‘Gail, we’re standing again!’ That was it, end of story. This is not a business, this is our community.

“But this time, I just don’t see how I can help anymore. I’ve done the best that I can the last three years but it’s too little.

“You know, I tried to set up a Friends of the Cemetery group. We were going to meet to tidy the graves and look after our history. We had it all organised, everything was ready to go. But then it gets to a point up the bureaucracy chain and they just said ‘no’. They were worried about who would buy the hi-vis vests. The ones that cost about $2.

“I mean, if I can’t do that, what can I do? It’s all just so hard now. All those little battles I’d wage for the residents, even I can’t help them now.”

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The very reason Dawn entered local government in 1991 was to wage war on the Southport Mall, on behalf of suffering businesses.

She says after Nerang Street was closed to traffic in 1988, multiple shops closed down and she was determined to reopen the central Southport site.

“Well, it took me eight years to get that through. It was a huge fight and much more difficult than I ever imagined. But we won in the end and it was worth it.

“By the time I got it open in 1998, I knew I didn’t want to leave council. I really felt like I was making a difference and I loved it.

“I’ve had so many wins along the way. There have been a lot of highlights — like when we would play opera music at the bus stations and car parks to stop vagrancy and loitering. Nobody could stand the music. We could use these creative solutions because there wasn’t the paperwork to stop us.

“I remember back in 2003 we had a resident who was going to lose his chooks because his block was too small, but we negotiated with the neighbours and they shared the chooks and it was happily ever after.

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“Fast forward to two years ago and there was a factory on Nind Street that had been keeping chooks there forever and then there was a complaint. Well, there was nothing I could do anymore. There’s no room for negotiation or common sense. The chooks are gone.”

Dawn says she’s not afraid of a fight, but just doesn’t see the point any more if there’s no chance of winning.

She says she was never tempted to opt for the easy way out, a legacy she attributes to being born with red hair and freckles.

“I’ve always been the odd one out. I’m not normal. But I’m OK with that, it’s made me resilient — I’m proud to be an individual.

“I was teased as a kid, I was kicked out of school for hiding my beer in the toilet cistern, I was fired from the Commonwealth Bank … I’m not an easy person. I’m sure I have that ADHD or whatever it is, I can’t sit still. But I think that makes for a good local representative.

“I love walking down the streets of Southport, they all know me and I know them. I love hearing their stories and I love this city. I’ll never stop working for the Gold Coast, it’s just going to have to be in a different capacity now.”

Wherever she goes, it will surely be with her beloved dog Princess Pookie by her side — as she has been ever since Dawn lost Des, her husband of 42 years, in 2012.

In the silver lining to this new era, Dawn says she will be able to spend more time with her canine companion, who was recently diagnosed with dementia.

“She was Des’s companion. When he died she stayed on his bed for two days straight.

“I really think some sort of soul transfer happened. I adopted her and she is the most spoiled dog ever, she’s a delight.

“I’ve always loved animals — and I love people too. That’s why I know my time is up. If I want to keep helping, I have to move on.”