Top priorities from new Shire Mayor

THE Surf Coast Shire’s new Mayor Liz Pattison says council will continue its mission of mitigating against, and responding to, climate change under her leadership.

The senior water engineer who was appointed to the top job last week says this, alongside responding to the region’s housing and accommodation crisis, and securing the required funding for the Torquay aquatic centre, are her key priorities for the 12 months ahead.

“We live in an amazing environment down here and I think it’s important that we respect the environment and look after it and in the context of climate change – and the council’s declared climate emergency – it makes sense that a lot of our priorities are focused around the environment and protecting the environment and enhancing it,” she said.

“Our integrated transport planning plan that’s looking at how people can move around our townships better is also really important, whether it’s active transport, public transport, or just the general road network. That’s another focus.”

The mother of four said she gets a daily reminder of the region’s needs for aquatic facilities when she attends school pick up.
“There’s parents talking about ‘I’ve got to drive to Geelong to do my swimming lessons’ and then there’s people that really need their hydrotherapy to look after themselves, so that’s a really important focus, bridging that funding gap and progressing with the designs,” she said.

Cr Pattison said both she and council are committed to resolving issues in the Karaaf Wetlands after two reports found the Shire had vastly underestimated how much water would be coming off new housing developments nearby and the damage it would do to the naturally saline environment.

“There is a sense of urgency and I think council does see it that way,” she said.

“It’s been really great that through the process of what we’ve done, we’re getting the other stakeholders on board because it’s the CCMA (Corangamite Catchment Management Authority) Barwon Water, Wadawurrung, council, Parks Vic, there’s multiple parties that all need to come together.

“It’s important that we have like a strong team that’s invested in working on the Karaaf and resolving what’s going on there.”

The Mayor said council will continue to advocate for solutions to the poor health of the Anglesea River, a situation she said is “concerning, it is really sad because it was an amazing thriving ecosystem.”

“It’s a terrible situation what’s happened with the Anglesea River and there’s a whole lot of really committed community members and the council, and others, that want to look at how we can resolve those issues.”