Thank you for entrusting me with the position of Mayor of Devonport over the last six years.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again ask for your No 1 vote of confidence to allow me to continue to be your voice on the Devonport City Council.
Even though I am standing for election of Mayor, (two year term) I still need to be elected for a four year term as an Alderman. In the event that I was successful in being returned as your Mayor and I wasn’t elected as an Alderman I therefore could not take on the role as Mayor.
During my time as Mayor, I have actively sourced State and Federal Government funding for our city and I am pleased to say that we have progressed in leaps and bounds as a community courtesy of these grants that have totalled millions of dollars.
I will not rest on my laurels and will continue to strive to provide our community with a place that is constantly seeking investment, more jobs, stability and a safe environment for you, your children and grandchildren to live and grow in.
I have overseen the process of streamlining our Council whilst maintaining and improving valuable services.
Under my leadership we have seen the completion of major projects including Formby Road, Stewart Street, the Mersey Bluff Precinct, various road works and kilometres of improved cycling and walking paths.
Work has started on Portside apartments at 169 Steele Street, (old Maternity Hospital). I have regular contact with the developers who have committed around $12million to this project and it will look fantastic when completed.
The Homemakers Centre off Stony Rise will bring $50m worth of development to the city and a couple of hundred jobs; it is expected to be open for business before Christmas 2012.
Big W is on Don Road is also on target with their $50m project that will also be open before Christmas next year, imagine all those jobs!!
We understand that these new large developments will create extra traffic on our roads, so we are planning for lights and roundabouts on Don Road and roundabouts for Stony Rise road to assist with the increased traffic flow.
After all the recent publicity on the Maritime Museum I am pleased to inform you that all is not lost, we have formed a working group comprising of one resident from Glouster Avenue, three elected members, one Maritime Museum volunteer and one member of the MM Controlling Authority along with council officers to move forward with this project as quickly as possible.
Council has received Federal and State funding to assist in the building of the new $14m indoor Aquatic Centre which will make Devonport the envy of every city in the State. All of these big projects are either started or about to start very soon.
I am not one for sitting back and waiting for thins to happen, I put the mechanizations into gear and make them happen, and as such we are a city on the move.
We have made some excellent investments in our future through exciting commercial and council developments, and now it is time to consolidate our position and look closely at cost saving measures for the community.
Balancing the budget and long term financial sustainability is my focus into the future, evidenced by the production of asset management plans and a ten year financial plan for adoption this year.
As at 30th June 2011 we had total assets of $408million, that are increasing with new developments, $9.06million in cash and last year, 2010/2011 we finished with an operating surplus of $1.03million.
We are also well underway with progressing the new development in the CBD which will support the existing retailers; this development will be the 'jewel in the crown' and certainly bring visitors into the CBD and other shopping precincts.
As soon as the new Council is in place we will be briefing everyone as to where we are with this development and starting some public consultation.
Information can always be accessed from the Devonport City Council's website on just about anything you need to know about our council. If you are not able to access the site please call Council on 6424 0511 and they will assist you.
Council also publishes a quarterly newsletter that has the latest information in an easy to read format.
My Mayor's Message is published every Tuesday in the Advocate and is another way of keeping in touch as well as reading the classifieds in the local newspaper.
We are also very lucky that Radio 7AD allow a "Mayor's Message" on air every week through their community service announcements.
Your elected members contact details are available on the website or can be given out by our customer service staff.
The Deputy Mayor and myself are always available to speak at service clubs, schools and organisations to explain projects and the role of Council.
Mayor's Outside Council committees
I represent Devonport and the other Councils on the North West Coast at the Premier’s Local Government Council, (PLGC) which meets quarterly, usually in Hobart. I am also a member of the General Management Committee (GMC) of the Local Government Association.
A new Metropolitan Council's Group (MCG) was formed this year of which Devonport is a member; they meet quarterly to discuss issues associated with larger councils.
Discussions I had with (MCG) members of this group promoted me to put forward a Notice of Motion forward at our Council asking the Department of Economic Development what strategies they have in place to attract industries to the North West Coast.
After successfully moving that notice of motion, I was asked to join the Minister’s North West Coast reference group on Economic Development, so that is a step in the right direction and I look forward to working with that committee.
As Mayor I have taken it upon myself to meet quarterly or earlier if required, with TasPorts which includes our Port and airport, and CEO of TTLine.
Many meetings occur when the need arises with prospective developers to our city and once they proceed with their development I keep in touch with them on a regular basis to ensure that their development is on target.
In the way of explanation a 'Notice of Motion' is when a elected member wishes to put forward and idea or project to be discussed at the council table and if resolved the project is part of the budget process and if there is enough money in the budget the project will go ahead. In the event of the project not making the current year’s budget it then goes into the five year forward budget.
So if you would like to see what I have put forward to Council please click on the "What I propose" icon.
