With the 2024 Council elections just over six weeks away, it’s time to ask what’s at stake this September.

There’s a lot at stake. But it’s not what some candidates would have you believe.

It’s important to first understand what Councillors can and can’t achieve.

Lake Macquarie Council is comprised of twelve Councillors and a Mayor. Together, they develop policies to be carried out by the Council staff under the guidance of the CEO. But there’s real limits on how far reaching those policies can be.

Much of the policy that people think lies in the hands of Council actually resides with the state government. This includes the amount councils are allowed to raise rates. It also includes broader issues such as zoning.

Then what power do your elected local representatives hold?

Do they have the ability to hire or fire Council staff?

No, they don’t… with the one exception being the CEO. Beyond that, the CEO is the one who has full responsibility for Council personnel.

Councillors are in a unique position to provide a degree of oversight. A prime example being with regard to compulsory developer contributions to infrastructure.

This is critical to Council attaining the finances to fund infrastructure development without ratepayers being hit by higher fees and charges.

It ‘s why infrastructure so often gets developed in tandem with new developments rather than beforehand.

My concern is that there seems to be a tendency for high profile developments to manage to get their developer contributions waived, meaning the community misses out on vital improvements that could make a big difference to local communities.

Councillors can also influence the priorities given to projects that are covered by the strategic planning documents, the blueprints for what Council has planned.

It would be fair to say this is an area where West Ward has been left behind, with shared pathways and other public amenities having been shelved while high profile developments in other parts of the LGA, such as the Fernleigh track extension, have steamed ahead. Towns like Morisset have been left behind for too long.

Does this mean that I think Council staff don’t care about West Ward?

No. It means that West Ward has been poorly represented.

The last Council term has seen West Ward represented by two ALP members, One Liberal, and a member of another party (masquerading as an independent) who was forced to resign mid-term.

Party politics and local government are not a good mix, particularly in such a vast and diversified LGA as Lake Macquarie.

West Ward Councillors can’t possibly serve their constituents well if they are forced by party policy to toe the line of directives passed down from above.

For local government to function in a way that serves the people of that LGA, as equitably as possible, it requires truly independent Councillors who answer to no one but those who elected them.

I care about community and have done all my life.

I was inspired in youth by my uncle, Eddie Britt, who served on Willoughby Council for over twenty years and also served a term in the NSW Legislative Assembly.

In recent times, I founded and directed a cultural festival that ran for four years, helping people take their stories to the world. The experience of watching many of those who attended that festival grow from having an idea to a printed book or exhibited artwork was a revelation of how much of a difference can be made when people come together and share their passions.

If the citizens of Lake Macquarie have the courage to elect a Council dominated by true independents, people who are driven by a passion to make a difference and who understand the parameters that Council has to work within, then I believe there’s an opportunity to empower our community, to inspire the citizens of Lake Macquarie to believe that we can work together to help this city achieve its phenomenal potential.

That’s why I believe the citizens of Lake Macquarie should vote 1 Rosmairi Dawson for Mayor, and in West Ward, vote 1 Rosmairi Dawson’s group for Council.