Byron Shire Mayor, Michael Lyon, has announced a group of candidates to run for the upcoming Council elections in September. Joining him on the ticket are Women’s Village Collective founder Sama Balson, former councillor Peter Westheimer, and current Councillor (recently resigned from Byron Greens) Jeannette Martin.
Mayor Lyon said, ‘I’m very happy to announce our dedicated and passionate team of independents who are seeking to represent the Byron Shire community on Council for the next three years’.
‘We are united in our desire to solve the housing crisis and to protect and enhance our natural environment.
‘Sama has been a strong advocate for housing security and social justice for women in the Northern Rivers.
‘On Byron Shire Council, she would be an amazing asset, being able to lend her voice to really push for the change that just has to come on housing.
‘Peter brings great experience to the team with a track record of achievements in the Shire including the major repair and reopening of the Mullum Civic Hall.
‘His current role on the Biodiversity Committee of Council has kept him in touch with issues on the ground.
‘Peter is active in the community, working towards linking housing security with environmental regeneration of our rural areas.
‘Cr Jeannette Martin has recently resigned from the Greens to back Michael Lyon’s re-election campaign.
‘It is a big vote of confidence that someone who has worked with me for these last five years on Council has thrown her support behind me’, Mayor Lyon said.
‘I will be running on my record of delivering strong financial performance in challenging circumstances, record investment in roads, and great additions to our Shire in the form of parks, playgrounds, town centre improvements and ground-breaking environmental projects such as the 5MW solar farm in Myocum, and the soon-to-be delivered Bioenergy plant, an Australian first.
‘We won’t always agree, and there will be issues that can be used to try to divide us, however, I will continue to strive to be inclusive and open to the diversity of views in our community’.
Cr Lyon quit the Greens to become independent after failing to gain preselection for the Byron Greens ticket in 2020.
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