Aims and visions

“My main aim is simple. There is a clear, undeniable and underpinning responsibility of a Councillor and that is to represent the residents who have elected them into their positions.

The local Government Act 2009, Chapter 2, Part 1, section 12 states: “Responsibilities of Councillors (1) A councillor must represent the current and future interests of the residents of the local government area.”

“I will give the residents of Division 9 a stronger voice in Council and I promise to always put the needs of the community first. You are my priority.”

My vision

I don’t want our beautiful region to turn in to a metropolis. I don’t want endless new housing estates with no soul. I don’t want parking problems and streets with no footpaths.

I want our Council to help climate control at the local level. I want our Council to be efficient with resources so we can reduce levies. I want kerbside rubbish collections and free dump vouchers. I want sealed roads in rural areas and on school bus routes. I want more community recreation areas and bike lanes. I want our kids to be safe, and I want our elderly citizens to be cared for. I want our small businesses to prosper.

For these reasons I have nominated for the position of Councillor, Division 9, in the 28 March elections, and I would like to ask for your support.

As your Councillor, I will:

ü Be independent

ü Listen to you

ü Improve core services

ü Manage growth carefully

ü Reduce levies

Bruce’s aims and vision for Division 9 include:

* Help Council manage climate change at the local level.

• Enforcing Council's core responsibilities.
• Increasing council services to provide ratepayer value for money.
• Continuing to seal, maintain and upgrade urban and rural roads (particularly school bus routes). Attend to dangerous road sections and intersections.
• More (and wider) footpaths, designated bike lanes.
• Council to upgrade its main community recreation areas. Particularly parks, gardens and facilities. Apply more streetscaping and landscaping to public areas.
• Council to do its own kerbside cleanups and issue 2 tip vouchers per year to ratepayers.
• Committing to keeping rate increases low by creating new revenue streams.
• Providing much-needed infrastructure by attracting greater funding from State and Federal governments.
• Fostering ongoing community support and input into Council’s processes.
• Striving to achieve sustainability in finances, the environment and important community and social structure.
• Controlling and managing area-appropriate development both locally and region-wide.
• Maintaining and promoting the unique identities of each of our communities.
• Promoting alternative/public transport.
• Removing unnecessary council levies. These levies increase rates by stealth.
• Providing and fostering support for youth facilities and programs.
• Supporting community projects.
• Listening to community concerns and fostering an open, transparent and accessible relationship with residents.
• Personally dealing with current local issues as well as planning for the future, eg, masterplanning ex-cane fields and floodplains, addressing town planning issues (there has been 53 amendments to the current plan- time to update with a new town plan).