Name of ticket or independent: Group H, ticket leader.

Are you a mayoral candidate? No. 

Are you currently an Orange councillor? No.

Age: 36.

Family: Partner of 15 years, two children aged six and three.

What do you do for a living? Self-employed at Tuned In Audio/Visual.

How long have you lived in Orange? 14 years with a five-year gap in the middle.

What is the best part of living in Orange? The colours throughout the year. I love the fact we have a clear distinction of all four seasons, sometimes in one day.

Why are you running for Orange City Council? I want to see Orange move forward for the future by expanding on current infrastructure and investing in future developments for our generations to come. This will only make Orange a stronger community.

How would you assess the performance of the current council? The performance of the current council has been somewhat a mixed bag. Some councillors have voted with community aspect in mind others have had a pecking-order approach. Like most of the other candidates running I would like to see more transparency on rates and purchases and spending. I commend the job that the current community-minded councillors have tried to achieve whilst constantly coming up against ‘the boys club’. I think it is time to put new people with new ideas and a fresh outlook for Orange into council. Electing a new group of councillors that can work together will only be for the betterment of the Orange community. Why worry about the past? There is a reason the windscreen is larger than the rear-view mirror.

If elected, would you lobby to reduce, maintain or raise rates? If you would reduce them, which services or council undertakings would you eliminate to do so? It has already been printed in your paper that I will lobby for a rates freeze. I would like to see the newly-elected council push for at least two-year freeze.

Council has budgeted $17 million for roadworks in the next road-building season. Is this enough? Which roads should get priority? This budget is already set and I am satisfied with the list that has been produced, however, I cant help to feel that it could have been budgeted better over a longer period in the past 10 years of budgeting so it doesn't become this situation.

What is your plan for the Northern Distributor Road? The Northern Distributor Road is here and it is here to stay, love it or hate it. We haven't received our time machine to go back in time so there is very little that can be done about it. My only hope is that we can move on and with maintenance it can be rectified and fixed once and for all. Once this is achieved then we can politely lobby for state and federal to take over the road.

Do you agree with the industrial re-zoning at Orange airport? What should the space be used for in the future? I do not agree with the re-zoning of that land for industrial use. We only have to look at what the cotton industry has done to water supply and it wont take a rocket scientist to understand that if you re-zone agricultural land to industrial it is gone forever, there is no going back. Why not use the current three industrial areas of Orange that seem to be dwindling away like echoes down a valley of rocks? The space should be re-sold with caveats to ensure the land stays agricultural or horticultural.

What specific uses for the former Electrolux factory will you pursue or support? This is up to the owners but I would love to see this space used for industrial space and continue this industrial area through the sale yards. Purchasing this land rather than the prime agricultural land at the airport would make more sense to me because of its proximity to the railway.

Do you agree with real estate agents and property developers being on council? Why or why not? I have already said my piece on this. Although council should represent all of its residents, developers and real estate agents come with a very clouded judgement from the people of its community. A councillor whom is a real estate agent or a developer should be excused for voting on any council motion regarding land sales/purchases and/or developments. In effect making them a fairly useless councillor in my opinion. If land sales are to made by council then it should go out to list with all agents and whoever comes back with a buyer gets the sale.

What are the best ways council can help businesses prosper in the city? Holding more of an open business fun day in Robertson Park – rather than just focusing on food and wine – will help more people understand that Orange is more than just food and wine. We have many businesses here in Orange that given the chance can be bigger than they are. In this day and age you don't have to be in a city to be a large business. Phocas Software is a great testament to this. 

Is there enough parking in Orange? If not, where should additional car parks be constructed? For all that I hear, there is not enough car parking in and around the CBD, but then again people need to understand that you cannot always park out the front of the store you would like to go to. A possible solution is to have a multi-storey car park at the back of Woolworths and instead of the current car park between Woolworths and the main street have a pedestrian-only styled walk through, open air mall. Again this would come back to the owners of the surrounding property. Also the land located between the BP and Shell service stations has been empty for years: could this not be used to extend the current car park located behind BP?

Do you support the proposed purpose-built sporting complex council has acquired land for to the north of the city? No I don't. The build-it-and-they-will-come mentality behind this purchase is ludicrous. Panthers have already re-signed with Bathurst to the tune of a multi-million dollar figure, Square field sports participation has seen massive decreases over the past six years. Focusing on rugby league and rugby union could see a Port Macquarie-styled dollar loss in infrastructure. Wade Park needs an upgrade to the field to turn it into a regulation sized AFL field. It can still hold cricket games and if we can get this done using the current funds being offered by the state government, it may mean getting pre-season matches of AFL and a T20 match held here every year. AFL has decreased by a mere 1 per cent over six years whilst soccer and cricket saw an increase. Already this season AFL has had a spectator figure of over 6.5 million whilst NRL and rugby in Australia has seen only a very small percentage of this. We could also use state funds to improve soccer fields at Sir Jack Brabham Park and also see a removable mound and baseball net at the close by Bloomfield Park.

Are there any major projects you would champion if you elected? As I have mentioned Wade Park would be a massive project to undertake to see more seats, more disability access and access for prams/elderly is needed. State funding can make this happen. Another project I would like to see council bring back to life is a family fun day, which would consist of closing Byng Street between Peisley Street and Lords Place so we could have a Vivid-style fun day in which all local business can hold a stall in Robertson Park, not just food and wine, but trades and services as well. This will promote what Orange has to offer and possibly show what can be done locally. Also this would extend through to the grasslands at the north of the museum where local and national bands could hold live music along side a carnival-style area. Local jobs for local trades are important to me so I would love to see more tenders go out to local contractors before they are sent to national or international tenders with a higher discrepancy between costs in favour of getting local jobs.