Outgoing Coffs councillor Sally Townley looks back on 12 years of council

Outgoing Coffs Harbour councillor and former deputy mayor Sally Townley looks back proudly on her time spearheading several campaigns that have changed the face of the electorate.

Ms Sally Townley served as a Greens councillor in the 2012 and 2016 local elections and as an Independent councillor in 2021.

Outgoing councillor and former deputy mayor for Coffs Harbour Sally Townley said she has spent her 12 years in council fighting for “fairness”.

Ms Townley, an environmental scientist, was number four on Paul Amos’s Independent ticket this council election and votes thus far indicate she will not be returning to serve on council.

“I feel really grateful for the opportunity, I really gave it my all and am proud of that,” she told the Coffs Coast Advocate.

Reflecting on her time in council, Ms Townley opened up about her achievements.

One of her proudest moments was championing the cultural and arts facility Yarrila Place.

“Now there’s mums with little kids in the library, teenagers everywhere using the free Wi-Fi, people in the recording studio and using the public arts facility,” Ms Townley said.

“It’s a cultural and educational legacy for this area and I’m really happy about it.”

More recently, Ms Townley has been fighting for transparency on the state government’s business case for the Jetty Foreshores but was knocked back through the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“There is a long way to go with the state government and there is still no public view of the rezoning plan or the underlying financial modelling or business case,” she said.

She is continuing to fight for the business case to be made available to the public.

Sally Townley’s run as a City of Coffs Harbour councillor comes to a close but she will continue to fight for the state government’s business case for the jetty Foreshores as a private citizen. Picture: Supplied

In another notch for her legacy, Ms Townley was instrumental in seeing tunnels incorporated into the Coffs Harbour bypass plans after she took the Road and Maritime Safety (RMS) to court to get their plans released.

“I spearheaded the movement to push the RMS to include tunnels and not giant cuttings in the highway design. I believed they were using the cuttings as a cost-saving measure and sought the underlying business case,” she said.

“As we know, the RMS ended up agreeing to the use of tunnels in the design and I’m proud of that legacy.”

During her time she was instrumental in stopping coastal erosion from a planned Emerald Beach subdivision, north of Coffs Harbour.

And from as far back as her start in 2012, Ms Townley was not afraid to go it alone when she solely opposed the privatisation of the Coffs Harbour airport.

“While I didn’t win that fight, I was prepared to stand up for what I believed in,” she said.

Ms Townley served as a Greens councillor in the 2012 and 2016 local elections and as an Independent councillor in 2021.

She served as deputy mayor in 2014 and has been deputy mayor this last term and offered her best wishes for the incoming councillors and mayor.

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Originally published as Outgoing Coffs councillor Sally Townley looks back on 12 years of council