Bellarine candidates meet the locals

WITH voting packs for the City of Greater Geelong’s coming election in the mail this week, things are hotting up for the 13 candidates contesting the Bellarine Ward.

Twelve of the 13 candidates fronted up to Parks Hall in Portarlington on Saturday for a “Meet the Candidates” forum, which was attended by about 90 residents.

Organised by the 10 combined community associations and groups across the Bellarine, the event gave Bellarine residents the opportunity to scrutinise candidates.

In Portarlington, the candidates all responded to a set of questions, which asked them to explain how they would work within a group of three councillors if elected, and how they would communicate with the diverse communities and interests on the Bellarine.

Community association group spokesperson Chris Kelly said it was clear that residents expected better performance from councillors, better communication with communities, and more vision for the future.

“A number committed to the principle of ‘the Bellarine is one quarter of the City of Greater Geelong, so deserves a quarter of the resource allocation’.

“Some, interestingly, thought there was no hope of the Bellarine Ward achieving this – not what residents wanted to hear!

“This question is especially relevant in Portarlington right now since the recent closure of the privately owned Portarlington pool – a facility that many have come to see as a community asset, now lost.

“On top of this, it would seem that the growth area of Drysdale has no hope of a pool if the council’s formula is one pool per 50,000 residents.

“As one candidate noted, the alternative is a two-hour public transport trip from north Bellarine to Ocean Grove pool – there’s no cross-peninsula transport link.”

She said the candidates’ knowledge of issues on the north Bellarine was clearly variable, with some having a Geelong-centric view, while others focused on very specific issues such as public transport, coastal erosion, the impact of tourism and local development issues.

There were also the perennial issues of roads, rates and rubbish.

A forum was held at the Ocean Grove Bowling Club last night, and the last forum will be held at St James Church in Drysdale on October 18 at 7pm.

Voters must fill in all preferences on the ballot paper, and have their votes in the post by October 27.

Bellarine Ward, comprising everywhere east of a straight line defined by Coppards Road, has 13 candidates for its three seats. They are Naomi Adams, Petra Goerschel, Trent Sullivan, Stephanie Asher, Tom Roe, Art Sims, Stephen McGain, Denis O’Bryan, John Van Beveren, Jim Mason, Anne Brackley, Stewart Webb and Lindsay Ellis.

See pages here for candidate Q&As.