Tweed Council will see one new face this term with National’s candidate Kimberly Hone being elected in place of retiring conservative councillor Warren Polglase.
The other councillors elected were former Mayor and Independent Chris Cherry, the two Liberal councillors, and partners, James Owen and Rhiannon Brinsmead, Labor’s Reece Byrnes, Greens candidate Dr Nola Firth and the final and seventh member of council will be Independent Meredith Dennis.
The margin between the last elected candidate Cr Dennis and the last un-elected/excluded candidate Brady Turner was 950 votes.
The Liberal candidates group received 28.50 per cent of the of the first preference vote which saw the two former Crs Owen and Brinsmead returned. Independent Ms Cherry received 15.14 per cent of the vote followed by Labor’s Mr Byrnes at 14.46 per cent, National’s Ms Hone received 11.59 per cent, while Greens Dr Firth received 10.5 per cent and Ms Dennis received 7.05 per cent.
‘I’m honoured to be reelected onto council and have a majority of progressives,’ Ms Cherry told The Echo.
‘What is concerning is the nearly 25 per cent of people who didn’t vote and the eight per cent who voted informally. That means more than one in three people who are registered haven’t put in a formal vote. That is something we need to look at and to work out how we can reach those people.’
Cr Firth said a ‘big thanks to the progressives in the community! Our Greens primary vote quota has increased by 15 per cent.
‘Progressive voices will be important in this council term. For example we will be deciding the Growth Management and Housing Strategy as well as reviewing other crucial policy documents such the tree protection section of the Development Control Plan. Protection occurs at 300mm diameter in some shires but it 800mm here!
‘So I am looking forward to again listening to, working with and serving the community for the next four years.’
Tweed Mayor – Labor to be deciding vote?
The Tweed Council does not have a popularly elected Mayor, instead councillors will elect the Mayor at their first meeting on October 10. Cr Owen had sought to have a referendum at this election to change to a popularly elected Mayor for Tweed but this was voted down by fellow councillors.
It is likely that the two candidates for Mayor will be former Mayor Ms Cherry and former councillor Mr Owen. It appears Labor’s Cr Byrnes will be the person to decide who will hold the position if the past voting patterns are repeated. It is likely that Crs Owen, Brinsmead and new Nationals councillor Hone will vote for Owen while Crs Cherry, Dennis, and Dr Firth will vote for Cherry leaving Labor with the deciding vote. The question will Labor’s Cr Byrnes vote for a Liberal Mayor or an Independent?
You can watch the decision online from 3.30pm on October 10 or attend the Murwillumbah Council Chambers in person.
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