A message from the Mayor

UPPER Hunter Shire Mayor Maurice Collison is encouraging community driven residents to put their hand up and run for Council. 

He said those wanting to be on the Upper Hunter Shire Council need to want to work solely for the community and be prepared to take the good with the bad.

“There’s no doubt it’s not all roses, you’re going to take the good, the bad, the negative, the positive and you’re feelings could get broken a couple of times, but no one makes you do it. If you had of told me nine years ago that I would be sitting in the Mayor’s chair, I would have probably said you’re dreaming, ” Cr Collison said.

“It’s very rewarding, it’s sometimes frustrating, sometimes you’ve got to admit that you’re wrong, but it’s nice that even when you admit when you’re wrong, you’re still encouraged when you get something right,” he said.

“You’re always going to make mistakes, you’re always going to make a decision that you may have wished was a little different, that’s life,” he said.

“But you’re only one around the table of nine, so working together is a big thing, you’re not working for yourself, you’re working for the community,” said Cr Collison.

Cr Collison said the best thing interested candidates can do before nominating, is attend the upcoming election workshops next week, tune in to Council meetings, or call on a Councillor for personal guidance. 

“I think it’s important if someone is interested, that they ring their preferred Councillor or sit down and have a coffee with them,” Cr Collison said.

“The Office of Local Government workshops go for three hours and when I sat in one nine years ago, I came home with headspins, because there’s so much to take in. That’s why it’s important to attend and take that information and reading material away,”  said.

“Before I ran for Council, I also attended a couple of infrastructure meetings and just sat in the background and had a listen. I would recommend people interested to come and have a look as well, or tune in to the Youtube livestream meetings and then have a think if Council is for you or not,” he said.

“It is disappointing that we’re not doing face to face meetings, because that was the best thing for me, to go to the meetings and speak to Councillors, but we don’t know where we’ll be with restrictions when it comes closer to election time, things might change,” he said.

“If people jump online and have a look at the livestreaming, we [Council] will behave ourselves so we don’t frighten everyone away,” laughed Cr Collison.

Councillors Lee Watts and Sue Abbott have expressed their wishes for a more diverse Council, but Cr Collison says candidates just have to be “fair dinkum.”

“It doesn’t matter if there’s nine women on Council, or nine Aboriginals, it doesn’t matter. As long as people who put their name up are fair dinkum, because you’re not there for the money that’s for sure,” Cr Collison said.

“I’ve got no problems with more females on Council, I have a few in mind who I’d like to see run and I support them all the way,” he said. 

“We have a good mix on Council and we will definitely be up for two vacant positions, with the absence of Josh Brown and Wayne Bedggood . . . it’s one thing putting your name in, you’ve then got to get public support and win the ballot,” he said.

Cr Collison said he hopes a minimum of 15 or 16 people put their names forward, particularly representatives from Merriwa and Murrurundi.

“Merriwa definitely needs one to two Councillors and Murrurundi desperately needs a Councillor up there. My message when I’ve been travelling around has been, ‘ please try and find someone,'” he said.

“They need a representative that knows the town, knows what the people want in the town. We have a massive road infrastructure, but the sports grounds and other town things, that’s what that representative can bring to Council and fight for in the annual budget,” he said.

“We’ve also got to be careful, we’ve got a smaller area like Merriwa, with a population of a bit over 2,000. It would be a shame for them to have say, four people to put up, which would then certainly spread the voting. 

“However, we’ve got a big Shire and a great place to live in the Upper Hunter and we need nine Councillors.

“I encourage everyone who is interested in local government, put your name down because that’s where you can make a difference,” said Cr Collison.