Reece Byrnes returns to council as Deputy Mayor

TWEED Shire Councillor Reece Byrnes has been elected deputy mayor, taking over from Cr Meredith Dennis.

The vote was held at last week’s council meeting, with Byrnes nominated by Cr Dennis and Mayor Chris Cherry. Cr Kimberly Hone also stood for the role, receiving three of the seven votes.

Byrnes previously served as deputy mayor in 2017/18 and in 2020/21.

“I have a good working relationship with Cr Hone, as I did her predecessor, former Cr Warren Polglase — all of us want good outcomes for the shire,” Byrnes said.

Byrnes has represented the Labor Party on council since 2016, when he was elected as a 28-year-old — the youngest in the shire’s history.

Mayor Cherry said she was pleased to welcome Byrnes back to the role.

“Cr Dennis is both an outstanding councillor and a well-loved and active member of the Tweed community. I thank her for the contribution she has made,” Cherry said.

“Cr Byrnes is really experienced on council and received the biggest increase in votes at the last local government election, so I am sure he will be a popular choice as deputy mayor.”

A Banora Point resident and father of a seven-month-old daughter, Byrnes has been through a challenging year with the illness and loss of his mother.

“Cr Dennis and I have also had our differences on issues, and strong personalities often butt heads,” he said in a recent social media post.

“Meredith was one of the first people to reach out when my mum went to the palliative stage and assisted in ways that will not be known in the public record.

“My mission now as your deputy mayor is to restore some kindness to the local political debate, and to raise the bar of decency in our discourse in troubling and hard times for all.”