Drake resigns to run as independent

Deputy mayor Cr Trevor Drake has announced his resignation from the Liberal Party and that he will be standing as an independent at next month's Gosford Council elections.

"After my first term on council, and the last year as deputy mayor, I have formed the opinion that the party politics does not always achieve the best outcome for the community," Cr Drake said.

"As an Independent I will be able to continue to make valuable contributions to the community and Gosford council without being hamstrung by party politics.

"I will be leading a team of Independents, who are intelligent and well-respected women from the Central Coast."

Cr Drake said he believes that it is time Gosford council focused on good basic services which have been neglected for years.

"During my first term in council I was shocked to learn that council spend as little as $1.5 million on roads for the whole of the Gosford region," Cr Drake said.

"That is just not good enough.

"We are calling our team the 'dream' team, which is an acronym for drainage, roads, environment, accessibility and maintenance.

"This is what we want to focus on over the next four years.

"For too long now, infrastructure such as roads, kerb and guttering, drainage and footpaths have been put on the back burner in place of multimillion dollar structures that mean little to the community when several streets away, the suburban landscape looks like a Third World country.

"We have an ageing population, and we need to ensure accessibility for all the community."

Cr Drake said he discovered that the previous council had commissioned a report on the cost of kerb and guttering for all roads on the Peninsula.

"For what Council spent on the Peninsula Leisure Centre, we could have had nearly all the streets on the Peninsula kerbed and guttered with proper drainage," Cr Drake said.

"It begs the question as to why council at that time chose to spend its money on this costly building, which has significant ongoing losses each year, when funds could have been spent on improving roads.

"Our playing fields, beachfronts and foreshore reserves are all neglected and it's just not good enough."

Trevor Drake's team comprises of Peninsula businesswomen Ms Debra Wales and Ms Janice Hawkins, Copacabana businesswoman Ms Jean Kronja and Cr Drake's daughter Ms Tegan Drake.

Press release, 7 Aug 2008 Trevor Drake, Gosford Council candidate