As the news of who and who isn’t running for Mayor of Lismore was finalised yesterday, the candidates are going to the ballot today (which was delayed by over three hours) to see what order they will appear on the voting form.
Cr Bird drew number 6 of 6.
Our Sustainable Future, led by current Councillor Elly Bird and her team have officially launched their campaign for Lismore City Council.
Councillor Bird is running for Mayor of Lismore City Council with what she says is a strong team of long term locals, business owners and environmental advocates on her ticket.
The Our Sustainable Future team
The candidates on the Our Sustainable Future ticket are Carlos Vieira-Silva and Deborah Ray, who are both business owners in the Lismore CBD, Jyllie Jackson the driving force behind the Lismore Lantern Parade, and Simon Clough previous Deputy Mayor and long-term community campaigner.
Cr Bird says that as Mayor she would lead the community to face challenges head-on, focusing on working together with councillors, staff and our community, to find practical, positive and sustainable solutions.
Climate resilience and disaster preparedness a priority
‘Our priority focus for the next term of Council and beyond is climate resilience and disaster preparedness; affordable housing; financial sustainability for the organisation; and prioritising roads, infrastructure maintenance and efficient waste management into the future. We are totally committed to sustainable economic development and supporting our business community to grow and to establish new initiatives that will enhance and improve our unique community identity.’
Cr Bird says her team’s position on key policy areas of interest to our community is that they oppose the Dunoon Dam and support resilient system-wide water efficiencies and solutions like purified recycled water. ‘We will also prioritise CBD revitalisation and business recovery from Covid; we support development on North Lismore Plateau which has been a long term strategic goal for Council for many years, and which has been through a detailed and thorough consultation process with Traditional Custodians; and we support the Rail Trail because of the economic benefits it will bring to Lismore.’
An active and responsive Councillor
Cr Bird says that she was elected in 2016 after five years working on the successful campaign to make the Northern Rivers Gasfield Free. ‘Since then I’ve proven that I am an active and responsive Councillor – I led our flood recovery with Lismore Helping Hands, supported our community through the bushfires, and I have consistently advocated for local businesses. I am experienced, diligent and committed. I show up, I work hard, and I listen.
Cr Bird feels she has the right balance of experience and passion required to lead a new Council with many new faces following the upcoming election. ‘I have the skills, the dedication and the commitment to be the next Mayor of Lismore and I am looking forward to working in partnership with our community to build a future we can all be proud of.’
Cr Bird announced Gwen Trimble who is a long term resident of Nimbin as number two on the ticket. ‘We are working hard to have Gwen elected to Council alongside me as a sorely needed Nimbin representative. As our largest village and our most significant tourist destination, Nimbin needs dedicated representation on Council.’
Neil Marks to retire from Council
Last night Cr Neil Marks surprisingly announced that not only will he not be running for Mayor at the Lismore election, he will also not be running for Council. ‘
‘It’s a shame that Neil Marks is retiring from Council at this election,’ said Cr Bird. ‘He has been a very diligent and dedicated councillor who has served our community well for 13 years and I wish him well.’
Cr Bird’s 20 Questions for The Echo are here.
Recent stories, information and updates regarding the Lismore Elections
One new case of COVID-19 was reported for Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) in the 24 hours to 8pm 2 December.
Northern NSW Local Health District, Chief Executive, Wayne Jones, said the case is located in the Lismore Local... Enjoying a few precious minutes break in an election week is a real luxury and Lismore mayoral candidate and current Mayor Vanessa Ekins managed to fit an Echo interview in between her TAFE Auslan course and the pre-poll station on Woodlark Street. A new case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Lismore in the 24 hours to 8pm 30 November. The Lismore Residents Action Group say they do not object to the future development of the airport, they say they are specifically concerned about the considerable increase in aircraft noise caused by flight training. The prediction provided by the Bureau of Meteorology expects that locals around the Wilsons River at Lismore will see the river peak this afternoon at 4.20m. However, ‘Flooding is no longer expected in the Tweed, Rouse, Brunswick River catchments. North Coast Community Housing (NCCH) has officially opened 12 refurbished fit-for-purpose homes in the former Lismore Base Hospital accommodation known as Laurel Lodge. The Echo asked all the Lismore Councillor candidates to send in a bio. Led by current Councillor Elly Bird, the Our Sustainable Future team is Group E. The Echo asked all the Lismore election Councillor candidates to send in a bio. First cab off the rank was current Councillor Darlene Cook and Group A. The Northern NSW Local Health District says there have been no new cases of COVID-19 reported in the 24 hours to 8pm 28 November, but, they are urging residents in the Lismore area to be alert for COVID-19 symptoms.
The closing date for applications to join the Rural Landholder Initiative project is looming and rural property owners are encouraged to apply for funds to help improve their land.
The Rural Landholder Initiative assists landholders through education and incentives and...COVID update December 3: One new case and advice for international...
Election week sees Vanessa Ekins doing her blocky
Lismore saw one new case of COVID-19
Lismore Residents Action Group say ‘no’ to Increased flight training
Wilsons River flood peak and flooding not expected for Tweed, Rouse,...
Laurel Lodge open for community housing
Lismore Councillor candidate bios – Group E: Our Sustainable Future
Lismore Councillor candidate bios – Group A: Labor
COVID update – Aquarius, Lismore sewage fragments and the South African...
Funding for Rural Landholder projects in 2022
How can you support the proposed 2000 lot development with a population increase of 6 to 8 thousand
without having a new dam at Dunoon.
How can you say you want to improve roads when the NLP development proposes to put an estimated
14,000 car movements a DAY on our roads.
How can you promote fiscal responsibility when Council is borrowing 30 million dollars for supporting
infrastructure for the NLP developers who are standing to make hundreds of millions of dollars of profit?
How can you have a policy for social housing when no provision at all is being made in any development including,
and especially the NLP, the single biggest development ever before Council.
Our Sustainable Future is a fancy name but the reality is naivety or worse electoral deception on a grand scale
on a Community who are just fed up with the shenanigans of the Lismore City Council.
Al you didn’t mention: how do you “take strong action on climate change” while continuing the conversion of Nimbin from highly productive farmland to lantana and marijuana-based tourism attracting people from the other side of the world travelling on jets?