Recording council meetings, building new skate parks and a BMX track, and a bus tour to show councillors the extent of bad roads are among the priorities for new Orange councillors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They have also listed better maintenance of Cook Park, reviewing funding for roads, footpaths and land purchases, revitalising the CBD and creating a hotmix facility as their first objectives.
The planned airport industrial park is set to be a point of conflict with some calling for it to be reviewed and one supporting it.
New mayor Cr Reg Kidd has called on the new councillors to put aside political differences to work together for the good of Orange.
“I hope that everybody will be on council to see Orange prosper,” he said.
“We should forget our political alliances.
“I think they are all adults, fair-minded people.
“We want the best for Orange, not for NSW or Australia, it’s about our patch.”
Cr Kidd said his first priority was to get a review of planning for roads, footpaths, council land purchases and the airport industrial park.
The candidate who received the most votes in last Saturday’s election, Sam Romano, said he wanted more facilities for young people.
“I’ll be looking at the BMX bike track to make sure it is usable and functional,” he said.
“The track should be of a standard that will attract events for Orange.
“I think it should be put up before the concrete skate parks which I think are dangerous for young people.”
Cr Kevin Duffy, who said he would stand for deputy mayor, wants councillors to take a bus tour to see the city’s worst roads.
He said a “common sense tour” of the council’s assets was needed to show the extent of repairs and improvements needed.
“I’ll drive the bus myself,” he said.
Cr Duffy said he would also call for a one-year freeze on rate increases, changes to the code of conduct procedures, an upgrade of Wade Park before the planned rectangular field complex, and withdrawal of support for the airport industrial area.
New councillors Tony Mileto and Joanne McRae want council meetings to be recorded.
Mr Mileto said they should not be live-streamed.
“I feel it needs to be recorded for accuracy purposes,” he said.
“There seems to be some confusion about what is said. There would be no misrepresentations.”
Ms McRae said council should record meetings and later look at live streaming.
She also called for fewer closed meetings and more engagement with the public.
Cr Russell Turner said he wanted costings to be obtained for the new conservatorium of music and planetarium and wanted council to go ahead with the airport industrial park.
He said that once government approval for the rezoning was gained council could advertise for businesses.
Stephen Nugent said he wanted a one-day business and community forum to come up with plans to revitalise the CBD before the end of the year.
He said he had received a lot of feedback about the CBD needing a boost.
“They see it as fairly urgent,” he said.
Cr Scott Munro said he wanted to close down the airport industrial park plan.
“I want to rescind that decision, we can’t have industrial land out there.”
Mario Previtera said he wanted to see better maintenance of Cook Park and the long-debated toilet block installed in Robertson Park.
“Cook Park is looking a bit run down,” he said.
Cr Jeff Whitton wants council to approve a hot-mix facility for Orange to get roads fixed quicker.
He said he would call for a costs and benefits report.
And Cr Glenn Taylor said he would push for skateparks in north Orange and Glenroi.
“In north Orange particularly we got a bit of feedback about the lack of facilities for young people.”
Cr Jason Hamling was also contacted for comment.
HOW YOU VOTED
The order in which councillors were elected and finished:
Order elected:
Mayor: Reg Kidd
- Sam Romano
- Kevin Duffy
- Joanne McRae
- Jason Hamling
- Tony Mileto
- Russell Turner
- Stephen Nugent
- Scott Munro
- Mario Previtera
- Jeff Whitton
- Glenn Taylor
Order finished:
- 13. Gerald Power
- 14. Ron Gander
- 15. Bernard Fitzsimon
- 16: Darryl Curran
- 17: Chris Gryllis
- 18: Luke Sanger
- 19: Lynn Bocking
- 20: James Newman
- 21: Gail Copping
- 22: Jane Patteson
- 23: Rod Bloomfield
- 24: Matthew Chisolm
- 25: Paula Townsend
- 26: Alicia McDonnell
- 27: Ellen Vaz
- 28: Joel Everett
- 29: Alison Bennett
- 30: Sue Duchaj
- 31: Michael Seccombe
- 32: Karlene Irwin
- 33: Kyle Manning
- 34: Jason Wright
- 35: Jason Vials
- 36: Genya Miller
- 37: Ben Miller
- 38: Alyson Yager
- 39: Pamela Boney
- 40: Stephanie Medcalfe
- 41: Janelle Baylis
- 42: Brock Skelton
- 43: Mike Middleton
- 44: Tony Healey
- 45: Colin Young
- 46: Connie Barbagallo
- 47: Craig Booth
- 48: Leiarna Dunworth
- 49: Melissa Hamling
- 50: Kerry Rains
- 51: Gavin Hiller
- 52: Cheng Zhang
- 53: Janelle Roarty Calder
- 54: Nino Belmonte
- 55: Mary Croaker
- 56: Graeme Judge
- 57: Will Ferguson
- 58: Anwen Carney
- 59: Justeene Cleary
- 60: Lennon Cook
- 61: Mel Flannery
- 62: Jim Finn
- 63: Michael Dean
- 64: Angeline Shoveller
- 65: Laura Shore
- 66: Tammy Warburton
- 67: Libby Brown
- 68: Tracey Zelukovic
- 69: Rajka Maric
- 70: Peter Calder
- 71: Richard Clifford
- 72: John La Spina
- 73: Amarjot [Allan] Dhatt
- 74: Charlie Ginty
- 75: Sharon Carr
- 76: Melissa Hatton
- 77: Samuel Baylis
- 78: Robert Vaz
- 79: Peter Martin
- 80: Robyn Chapman
- 81: Teresa Brakenridge
- 82: David Mallard
- 83: Richard Eggleston
- 84: Rose Hodgins
- 85: Tracy Wilkinson
- 86: Darren Johnson
- 87: Nicole Herridge
- 88: Heather Lean