After many decades of inaction, changes are happening to centre of Blackwood, with the construction of the new "Blackwood Hub" and redevelopment of a number of shops.

While a new library / community centre has been long requested by the local community, the positioning of it on Waite Street Reserve has seen both a loss in public open space and tree canopy.

Meanwhile, the Main Road of Blackwood continues to be ignored and neglected.

Significant greening improvements are needed, to replace the tired garden beds and loss of trees (such as the one outside of the Library) along with better pedestrian access and lighting improvements. While it might not be possible or desirable to be the next Stirling or Hahndorf, a lot can be done to improve the public realm.

The City of Marion have done fantastic work greening areas, such as Diagonal Road and around the Marion Pub.

Meanwhile, the main street of Virginia will undergo substantial works lift the appearance of the local area and encourage more people to support local business.

If elected to council, I would push for the development of a Public Greening Strategy for Blackwood, which would assess:

• Locations for new street tree plantings

• Improvements / additions to understorey plantings

• Better integrations of Water Sensitive Urban Design

• Issues with pedestrian access in the local area

• Potential locations for public artwork

Much of the public greening in the centre of Blackwood has been managed and constructed by volunteer groups such as the Blackwood Action Group who do a fantastic job.

Council should be stepping up to support these groups and tackle bigger tasks that will provide long-term benefit to the local area.

Picture: Public greening works in the City of Marion

I believe footpaths are an important means of connecting our community. For many people, they are critical to being able to get around our local area. If elected to council I would push strongly for an overall footpath plan in the hills to prioritise areas in need. Not every street needs a footpath, but with a proper plan I believe we can connect the area sufficiently enough to provide easy walking access for everyone. For those who do have footpaths nearby their house, it is quite clear from talking to many local residents that maintenance of them is a big issue. Keeping footpaths and laneways clean from leaf and other debris and not having pavers that have been pushed up by tree roots is really important to making sure you can actually walk safely on them.

The recent upgrade of Suffolk reserve has seen a significant increase in patronage. Given Suffolk reserve is located next to a kindergarten and just down the road from Hawthorndene Primary School, it is an extremely popular place that caters for a variety of ages. Suffolk reserve is also located on Bus Stop 39, providing easy access to the reserve. A toilet is required to serve the needs of families and the general community who use the reserve for recreation and to encourage more people to use this fantastic community asset. The nearest public toilet is a 1.4km walk away.

GD Wholesale is currently hosting a petition for a public toilet. This will be presented to the new council regardless of if I get elected.

I have heard from many local residents through my door knocking that transparency and accountability are key issues for them. Most importantly, they want to know that council rates are being spent diligently and that any increase is for a good reason.

If elected, I would like to explore making an interactive online map that people could visit to see local spending projects by council in their area. These could be labelled with ‘pins’, little icons people would click on to see what the council has done and how much money it had spent. It should also be possible to make a physical one (displayed in library or council chambers) for those without easy access to the internet. The aim is for people to be able to see what the council does and where money is being spent. The ‘pins’ could label for example a new footpath, drainage work, playgrounds, road resurfacing etc.

Crucially, I would like to see average $$ spent per resident in the hills wards, compared with the plains wards.

Many councils across Australia are using interactive maps to engage people, such as the one used by Burnside council for their street trees and the CIty of Mitcham has also used interactive maps to showcase capital works projects.

Riding a bike should be easy and safe, not only in the Park Ward but throughout Mitcham. If elected I would look at:

• Renewal of Mountain Bike Strategy, especially (last done in 2006) • Establish a Biking Accessibility Plan for the Mitcham Hills to prevent more hotchpotch spending and start joining the dots between existing trails and paths with an aim of making it safer for cyclists to ride (encouraging more people) and safer for drivers to operate

Did you know that the City of Unley lets residents recycle polystyrene for free? Their central drop-off location on King William Road accepts clean polystyrene, preventing it from being sent to landfill. A quick Google tells you that it takes between 500 - 1 million years for it to breakdown.

Rubbish is a core responsibility of Council. Given the cost of sending rubbish to landfill, wouldn't it be great to be able to recycle it?

If elected, this is an issue I will advocate for.

While everyone gets to enjoy the benefits large trees bring to our urban environment, the owners of those trees are responsible for all the maintenance that comes with owning one.

For many, this can be a considerable expense, with pruning costs and arborist assessments being quite expensive.

The City of Burnside, Unley and Marion Council all have Tree Assistance Funds which allow the council to provide financial assistance for those with large trees on their property.

If elected, I would like to explore the possibility of setting up a similar fund in the City of Mitcham.

Homeowners would obtain an arborist report detailing the work required on the tree (e.g. maintenance pruning) and then apply to Council for funding.

If successful, the City of Mitcham would fund 50% of the work and 50% of the arborist report up to a total value of $1,750.

The community ward forums are currently held once each year and allow for a fantastic opportunity of interaction between council and residents. It provides excellent opportunities for residents to ask questions and get direct answers (as direct as you can from a government organisation)!

If elected to council I would like to explore the option of holding the community ward forums more than once a year. I think this is important to engage residents with local government and provide more transparency and accountability.

Holding these events on one night of the year is totally inadequate. Imagine if you had a family birthday and you missed it! It is of course possible to ask council questions throughout the year, either through your elected members putting questions on notice, or turning up to a council meeting and asking a question from the gallery. From my own personal experience, I know asking questions from the gallery is not that easy (first time involved 3 phone calls and 6 emails) especially when the email address to email your questions to in advance is not included in the minutes – something I would like to change if elected.

Mitcham Council used to have a tidy street award. Near me, Minnow Drive won this award back in 2012. Unfortunately, at some point in time this fantastic little idea got canned and the ability for street owners to brag to their neighbours disappeared. Tragic!

If elected to council I would like to explore the option of restoring this award so that bragging rights can continue. More importantly, recognition should be given to those residents who put in the extra mile to make their street look amazing.

Council's current Tree Strategy outlines the need for some 1,800 trees to be planted each year on Council owned land to offset canopy loss from existing council trees. These trees might be removed for during development, they have reached the end of their life or for safety reasons. Trees are key to so many aspects of our area, from increasing property prices, improving mental health and reducing urban heat. Currently the council is not fully funding their Tree Strategy meaning that they are falling behind on their responsibility to plant more trees each year.

In the past four years, the City of Mitcham has been planting 1,800 trees thanks to significant community support for the accelerated tree planting program being included in the budget each year. Despite this, our planting levels are well below some of our neighbouring councils such as Marion and Onkaparinga who are planting over 4,000 new trees each year to reach their goals. The City of Mitcham manages over 70,000 trees. If elected to council I would like to explore the option of running a pilot scheme where private business or individuals could purchase carbon credits generated from the amazing work that trees across the City of Mitcham do. This idea is already being used overseas to encourage the new plantings and the protections of existing trees.

If elected to counci I would like to investigate safer and easier ways for bike riders to cross the Glenalta railway crossing. The current situation is less than ideal for both riders and drivers, causing delays for drivers and putting pressure on cyclists due to the pinch points created by the lane restrictions.

The City of Mitcham has many fantastic trees on both public and private land. If elected to Council, I'd like to see one tree each month showcased as the "Tree of the Month" on both Facebook and in the Mitcham Community News.

Trees would be nominated by members of the public in a similar format to the City of Holdfast Bay.

Travelling South along Gum Grove, towards Blackwood and Grevillea Way, there is no signage that trucks should avoid using the Grevillea Way fire track.

There is signage from the other direction. This has resulted in trucks / longer vehicles getting stuck while trying to turn right onto the track.

If elected to council, I would push for better signage to be installed.

Our leafy hills environment tends to generate a lot of additional debris on our streets and footpaths. Many local residents have raised with me the need for more frequent street sweeping, especially over summer when many of the trees drop leaves due to heat stress and lack of water.

While Council's street sweeping program has been heavily impacted by COVID over the past few years, I will advocate for increased street sweeping if elected.

Additionally, many residents have also raised the issue of the street sweeping schedule clashing with bin day. Clearly this is something that needs to be resolved.