Name of ticket or Independent: Ticket member – Group L, Whitton Hillier ticket.

Are you a mayoral candidate? No.

Are you currently an Orange councillor? No.

Age: 38.

Family: Partner Shan, two dogs called Milly and Olly.

What do you do for a living? Work in IT for the public sector.

How long have you lived in Orange? 38 years.

What is the best part of living in Orange? Orange is my home, my family live here and I grew up here. I love the relaxed country pace of life and the opportunities this city brings. I love the local landscape, the beautiful gardens and the ever-growing hospitality scene. 

Why are you running for Orange City Council? To simply make Orange a better place than it already is. I want to see Orange grow and present greater opportunities for the city’s residents.

How would you assess the performance of the current council? Considering the environment council was working under a cloud of amalgamation/administration during its current term, Orange City Council has achieved some very good outcomes for the city. Council has been very effective in lobbying for funding from State and Federal Governments for various projects. However, there have been areas which council could of communicated to the community much better. The proposed fortnightly red bin collection service was not very well communicated to people, with a lack of consultation. I believe that council should not of taken up the offer to acquire the land of the former Orange Base Hospital which creates a high degree of risk. It has been disappointing that there has not been any female representation on council or a younger demographic. I hope that these representation issues will be addressed in the next term of council. 

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? If elected on council I will manage ratepayer’s money with the best value for money spending in mind. Any request for rate rises will have take into consideration the current rate of CPI and the current demands for the upcoming budget. It is a councillor’s responsibility to make sure that a council is running as efficient as possible with as little waste as possible. I don’t see an efficient use of ratepayer’s money raising Code of Conduct complaints against other councillors or extravagant council funded conference trips. A possible efficiency gained could be the mayor not having a dedicated vehicle. If a mayor needs a car for official travel then they can use one of the fleet vehicles. We currently see some candidates splashing around a rate freeze but they haven’t stated how they will fund it. Will they cut the roads budget? Will they cut services? Will they increase rates on public facilities? It would be very poor management for council to run into a financial deficit.

Council has budgeted $17 million for roadworks in the next road-building season. Is this enough? Which roads should get priority? The next road-building budget is what I believe is a record budget for road expenditure. To increase the budget further would require money from somewhere either increasing rates or cutting other services. I will be prioritising: 1) Forest Road to the Orange Health Services; 2) areas at intersections and roundabouts; 3) Southern Feeder Road to Woodward Street; and 4) roads in Lucknow, Spring Hill and Clifton Grove.

What is your plan for the Northern Distributor Road? To finish any remaining hot mix works required and to lobby the NSW State Government to assist in any long-term maintenance of the road. Without the Northern Distributor Road being built we would not of seen any major development built in north Orange. Without it there would be no North Orange Shopping Centre, Bunnings expansion or McDonald’s. All these contribute to the local economy and create jobs. 

Do you agree with the industrial re-zoning at Orange airport? What should the space be used for in the future? As a holder of a pilot’s certificate I can see the enormous potential for the Orange airport with aviation and logistical freight industries. The Orange airport is not reaching its full potential and could see large growth with aviation related activities. With the closeness of the airport to the Sydney basin and the low air traffic the airport presents a perfect place for flight training and aircraft maintenance facilities. Growth at the airport is being hampered by the inability for prospective industries to buy land at the airport and also usage fees such as aircraft landing fees for aircraft under 1 tonne of weight. Another opportunity will be for logistical freight industries due to the closeness of the airport to rail infrastructure. As with all Development Applications I will scrutinise any developments at the airport that would not be appropriate for the location or any possibility of any negative environmental risk. 

What specific uses for the former Electrolux factory will you pursue or support? Being next to rail facilities the former factory would be a perfect location for maintenance of the replacement XPT fleet instead of the proposed location of Dubbo. Since council does not own the site council can only really promote the site to future investors. 

Do you agree with real estate agents and property developers being on council? Why or why not? As with all people who are elected to council there needs to be a clear separation of any possible conflict of interest and that they are there to serve the community not themselves. I believe some professions create more chance of potential conflict of interest than others and is why developers should be banned from being on council. Until any laws are changed real estate agents still have the same opportunity to serve the community as anyone else. 

What are the best ways council can help businesses prosper in the city? The best ways for council to help small business to grow is to provide the framework for growth, this includes sufficient infrastructure such as road links and parking. Council needs to put in place the proper planning to attract new industries and opportunities. I would like council to develop or assist existing small business centres to allow start-up businesses to grow initially without the overheads of long term leases. Orange needs to attract large retail chains to the city. I’m very concerned that local people are doing their shopping trips to Bathurst or Dubbo to visit these large retail stores.

Is there enough parking in Orange? If not, where should additional car parks be constructed? There are various areas in the city which do not have enough parking. A reason why we love living in a city such as Orange is to be able to drive your own car and park right out the front of where you want to go and not have to pay for it. Unless we want to knock down buildings the only way is up with multi-storey parking at existing sites. However, there is a large cost to this and paid parking to fund it would not work. Council needs to partner with private enterprise to build multi-level to provide parking that also incorporate retail shops or office space. To relieve parking shortages council need to promote and provide bicycle stabling infrastructure for people to ride to work.

Do you support the proposed purpose-built sporting complex council has acquired land for to the north of the city? Orange needs a facility similar to the Glen Willow complex in Mudgee to attract carnivals and other big sporting events. Wade Park has serviced us well and will provide the city with a first class oval for cricket in the future with additional works, but it’s not a rectangular field required for various sports and has limited parking. If we can gain majority State and Federal funding to build the facility I would want the facility to have as many multi purpose functions as possible to benefit the whole community. This would include function rooms for meetings and other events. 

Are there any major projects you would champion if you elected? If I have the privilege of representing the local community I would champion: Charity bins at the recovery centre to allow collection on the weekends. Council to seek an expression of interest for the use of the old land fill site for a solar farm to provide land rental revenue. Champion council buy local preference from 2 to 5 per cent. Lobby the State Government to build a second Fire Station in north Orange. Make Orange the number one destination for cycling events in the state.