Constance to contest Gilmore p3
COVID-19 focus
Help redesign Hindmarsh Park p5
Mens’ Shed gets new home
p11
Kiama Show lift-out guide
p17
p9-12
15 JAN 2022
Reilly elected Mayor The new Council has elected Neil Reilly as Mayor until September 2023. A secret ballot was held to decide between him and Councillor Kathy Rice of the Kiama Greens, with Councillor Mark Croxford abstaining from the vote as both were members of the last Council. In a surprising development, first time Councillor Imogen Draisma of Kiama Labor was then elected Deputy Mayor over veteran Councillor Warren Steel. At 22, Cllr Draisma is the youngest person to ever serve on Kiama Council. “There is pride in representing such a diverse group – diversity of gender, diversity of age and diversity of ideas,” said Mayor Reilly on taking
the chair. “I think the future of Kiama will find great strength in that diversity.” Councillor Rice said, “It must be a disappointment to the community that after receiving 27 per cent of your vote that I have been denied the opportunity to become mayor. “Your vote for Greens was a record for Kiama, and the largest vote received by any team. We were only eight votes short of having three councillors.” Since our last printed edition, the final two places on the new Kiama Council have gone to Labor’s Stuart Larkins and Warren Steel after preference distribution. At their first Meeting, the
new Council also rejected a proposal to move Public Access to the same day as
the General Meetings and other timing changes. They voted to keep the status quo
With the independent peer review of the State Government’s approval of the South Kiama Planning Proposal underway, a rally is being organised as a last ditch attempt to show the community’s opposition to the rezoning. As reported in previous issues, the Proposal is to rezone rural land between Weir St and Saddleback Mountain Road for housing (444 lots). The Member for Kiama Gareth Ward and Central Precinct Chair Mark Greaves are calling on the local Kia-
ma community to join a suitably socially distanced rally in Hindmarsh Park, timed to coincide with the review and encourage people to write to the new Minister for Planning, Anthony Roberts. Community opposition to the approval resulted in the former Planning Minister, Rob Stokes, instigating the independent peer review of the decision made by the Department, which contrasted with the refusal recommendation from Kiama Council’s planners. “It’s time for our communi-
ty to send a strong and unambiguous message to the NSW Government; we have had enough of our community being over-developed and we will not back down in fighting to protect our local community,” says Mr Ward. Mr Greaves says it is essential the community show their strong opposition to over-development. “This will be a short, sharp rally. It’s about showing the NSW Government that our community is strongly opposed to this outrageous planning proposal.
“I don’t want to go through this process and wish we had done more. This is our last shot.” Amongst other things, the terms of reference for the review, written by Mr Ward and Mr Greaves, require the reviewer to physically visit the site, and talk with key people in Council and the community. “It is hard to understand the issues from an office in Parramatta,” says Mr Greaves.
A word from the Mayor
The new Councillors: Kathy Rice, Jodi Keast, Stuart Larkins, Imogen Draisma, Mark Croxford, Matt Brown, Warren Steel and Karen Renkema-Lang, with Neil Reilly in the Mayoral Chair.
Final rally against South Kiama rezoning
Details: Saturday 22 January, Hindmarsh Park, 10am. Wear masks.
after receiving submissions from a number of community groups and having concerns about lack of time to consider viewpoints expressed. Councillors will continue to have dinner with senior staff after the Meetings, but will now pay for their own drinks. After the Meeting, councillors began a comprehensive induction program, beginning with a briefing on the state of the organisation, and briefings by the NSW Office of Local Government and Local Government NSW. Over the next few weeks, councillors will attend training on a wide range of issues including how to conduct constructive debates, media training, finance, risk assessment, strategic planning, legal and ethical responsibilities, asset and natural resource management, land use and more. There will be another mayoral term for the final year to the election in Sept 2024.
Neil Reilly says his mayoral style will be friendly, open and collaborative. “My leadership style is such that I will make it clear what my expectations are, and I would like the councillors and staff to make their expectations equally clear, so we can move forward with a good framework for making decisions.” Through this he hopes to build stronger relationships between the staff and the councillors, which will then flow on to the community. “I want to get all three groups moving in the same direction, with an understanding of each other’s expectations.” In the face of some major strategic and financial stability issues, he says he is a lucky mayor, given he has such a talented team to work with, led by CEO Jane Stroud. “I was already very impressed with her style and abilities, but after just a day as mayor I am even more impressed. She is a good and knowledgeable person.” He will be increasing his already regular attendance at precinct meetings and community events, to keep a finger on the pulse. “One of the first things we have to do is put together the Community Strategic Plan to guide our work. To start with, I encourage everyone to get involved by filling out the survey on Council’s website.”