Pat Aiken - Group F Save Tuggerah Lakes
Running with: Gary Lindahl and Denis Whitnall
Q. What do you consider to be the most important issue facing the Ward you would be elected to represent?
A. Our water and sewage services are regularly subject to breakages as they have reached end of life.
Roads are maintained in a piecemeal manner and many suburbs are flood liable with little flood mitigation.
Brisbane Water has been neglected over many years with loss of navigation, reduced amenity and a regular overflow of sewage.
The lack of gross pollutant traps ensures a range of pollutants enter our waterways with every storm and our waterfront reserves are not complimented by sufficient amenities.
Q. What do you consider to be the most important issue facing the Central Coast Local Government Area?
A. We have world class beaches but little has been done to improve amenity.
We need to revitalise our beaches and waterways and can do this if we introduce a long-term dredging campaign.
Dredge the channels and put the sand on our beaches.
Our unique Coastal Open Space System is overrun with feral pests and weeds, provides little amenity in the form of walking and cycling trails and every year presents a major bush-fire hazard due to the level of hazard reduction carried out.
If properly managed these major natural assets have the potential to boost local business and local jobs.
Q. How would you, if elected to Council, set about addressing that issue for (a) your Ward, (b) the region?
Poor governance is demonstrated by a severe inability to engage our community and openly discuss the many challenges this region faces.
The new Code of Conduct introduced by the Administrator imposes an iron fisted approach to any whistleblower councillor.
Gosford Councils $1.4billion in missing assets and missing millions cannot just be swept under the table and ignored until the ICAC delivers it findings.
We cannot move forward financially, socially, environmentally or culturally without transparency of local government.
SOURCE:
Statement, 31 Aug 2017
Pat Aiken, Save Tuggerah Lakes