Burns to run for Brown Hill

WITH the next wave of City of Ballarat councillors set to be chosen in October, a local community leader and environmental advocate has thrown her hat into the ring.

Last month, Greens member Ellen Burns announced her campaign to run for the Brown Hill electorate and is the first to announce her candidacy.

Having been introduced to the local government while helping with the Brown Hill Local Area Plan in 2018, she said there are many issues in the area she’d like to see addressed.

“There are questions about density and overdevelopment, and it’s a really fast-growing area,” she said.

“The current services and infrastructure can’t accommodate the people that are already here. A lot of things like public transport, bike paths, footpaths, are falling behind.

“Things seem to be much more dictated by private business than any council influence.

“People wanted a post office and now we have one but that was more a private business decision. We wanted a cafe and were told there wasn’t enough business for one but now we’ve had one since 2020.”

Ms Burns has been a prominent member of the community for years as an advocate for clean energy use, and circular food consumption, serving as president and co-founder of The Hidden Orchard, and coordinator for Smart Living Ballarat.

Having ran her zero-waste snack business We Bar None for a decade in the region until last year, Ms Burns is also a member of the Ballarat Food Access Network, and was named a Ballarat Circular Economy Champion in 2022.

She first ran for council in 2020 where she secured the third highest primary vote for the North Ward electorate and achieved a similar result when she ran for the State seat of Wendouree in 2022.

Having grown up at Warrenheip before moving to Brown Hill, Ms Burns said she’s well poised to represent the electorate once the State-mandated single-ward system takes effect.

“I know a lot of the suburbs in the Brown Hill ward share the same struggles as the literal suburb,” she said.

“I grew up in Warrenheip so I’m very well-acquainted with the area, and the new Brown Hill ward actually goes into the centre and includes Bridge Mall which is where I would’ve done things differently around its development.

“I feel like I understand the area which is very important now we’re moving to single-member wards. People are only going to have one person represent them. Who we elect is really important.”

If elected, Ms Burns would represent the Brown Hill, Gong Gong, Black Hill, and Bakery Hill regions as well as parts of Ballarat East and Nerrina.