Dear Editor,
I agree with Keith Pyers that this Council election is very important for our future and agree, in part, with his assessment of the need for consistency.
However, the leadership required of a new Council should not just be about financial status but also about culture of the organisation and the maintenance of community assets to deliver benefits to locals as well as visitors.
The new single ward structure will hopefully assist the election of Councillors with the leadership qualities required. Too often in the past we have had Councillors who are more interested in their own local “patch” to the detriment of the Shire as a whole. We need locals elected who will give the Council a broader focus, depth and diversity of leadership.
Regarding the issue of consistency, it is interesting how many former Councillors are now claiming they were the ones working for the needs of our unique area but were so regularly outnumbered by the parade of parochialism.
It is also with some amusement I have been confronted by advertising claiming candidates will make Hepburn “great”. If the Council is not “great”, is it too obvious to point out the amount of time some former Councillors have already spent on Council with disappointing results for community satisfaction.
Perhaps some new blood is needed to invigorate the Council by electing people who will be part of a solution by providing vision and community satisfaction. Consistency is a good idea but not at the expense of the invigoration of Hepburn Shire Council to a trusted and respected municipal entity.
Daniel McDiarmid
Hepburn Springs
