Canteen supervisor, breast cancer survivor Janet Gatehouse elected mayor of Sorell

UK-born Janet Gatehouse, who has worked as the canteen supervisor at the local school for over a decade, says she is “very excited” to be elected as the new mayor of Sorell.

Sorell Mayor Janet Gatehouse. Picture: Linda Higginson

She has only recently recovered from breast cancer and is kept busy working as the “canteen lady” at the local school but Janet Gatehouse says she feels “really strong” and is eager to assume the mantle of Sorell mayor.

Originally from Nottinghamshire in the United Kingdom, Ms Gatehouse is a first-term councillor who was elected in 2022.

Janet Gatehouse

Following the resignation of former mayor Kerry Vincent, who successfully stood for the Legislative Council seat of Prosser as a Liberal candidate, Ms Gatehouse was one of seven people who ran to fill the mayoral vacancy.

She was officially elected to the top job late on Friday afternoon and said she was “very grateful” to have received such strong support from the community.

“I don’t know if my head’s stopped spinning yet,” she told the Mercury on Sunday.

“I decided to just put my hand up for stability, really. I don’t think that the Sorell municipality is in a position at the moment to do a 180 on strategic plans or pause to rethink everything.

“Because the community is growing so fast. And I think you need that consistency and, collectively, if we make a decision to change direction, we do it by degrees, not by giant angles, causing the least disruption.”

Ms Gatehouse, who lives on a farm at Wattle Hill with her husband and 22-year-old son, wants to see the Sorell township become a “destination point”, rather than simply a place people drive through or bypass entirely.

Aerial image of Sorell, Tasmania. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

“I’d like people to come here for a trip out so they can eat and shop and peruse the streets. We’ve started streetscaping to make it a more pleasant environment now we have the bypass, but I’d like to take that one step further in terms of making the town a destination point,” she said.

One of the fastest-growing municipalities in Tasmania, Sorell risks experiencing growing pains if it doesn’t manage its essential services appropriately, according to the new mayor, who will push for greater allied health facilities in the region.

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and I don’t know how many trips I did across the bridge to town. That’s hard work. So if anybody had any sort of condition, to have imaging services in Sorell [would be beneficial], or consistent late night doctors or emergency clinics or something along those lines,” Ms Gatehouse said.

(L-R) Chair of the Sorell School Association Janet Gatehouse, former principal Andy Bennett, ex-premier Will Hodgman and one-time education minister Jeremy Rockliff after a funding announcement at Sorell High School. PICTURE: CHRIS KIDD

Ms Gatehouse was “given the all-clear” for her breast cancer at the beginning of the year and said she was feeling “really strong”.

She has worked as the supervisor at the Sorell School canteen for 13 years and served as the chair of the school association, helping her form a stronger connection with the community and develop a greater sense of its diversity.

“We’re not just Sorell, we’re not just Midway Point, we’re not just the Southern Beaches; we [have] distinct, different communities and that’s very important to me,” she said.

Originally published as Canteen supervisor, breast cancer survivor Janet Gatehouse elected mayor of Sorell