Council
29 August, 2024
Geraldine Conheady announces renomination
CORANGAMITE Shire councillor Geraldine Conheady has announced her intention to stand again at this year’s local government election.
Cr Conheady will contest the Lake Keilambete Ward, comprising the Terang and Noorat areas, under the new system which will see one councillor elected from each of the seven wards across the shire.
The Noorat resident said she believed the lessons she has taken from her first term in council could position her well to better represent the community moving forward, after a first term which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve had a good experience as a councillor and I feel like I’ve learnt a lot and I can be a better councillor in my second term,” she said.
“The COVID-19 period was very challenging with our main focus at the time being trying to find ways to support the community.
“Our engagement with the community was strong and I think we learned a lot during that experience.
“As we start to look forward, we start to think about what our future looks like because that’s what a lot of our work is about – trying to prepare and plan for the future, so the COVID experience was unique in its way but also a great opportunity to learn.”
Cr Conheady said she had grown an appreciation for just how much council can impact a community, and felt her experience better prepared her to make a positive difference.
“Council has its finger in just about every pie – the breadth of the work is enormous behind the scenes, and as a councillor there has been a lot to learn and understand,” she said.
“I think I’ve come to know that being prepared, looking ahead, watching out for opportunities and listening to the community to understand their needs are the most important things.
“I understood that going in to council, but I certainly understand it now because it’s the community we’re understanding, and we need to know them to do everything we can to support them.
“To keep going forward while making sure the community has the services it needs and being ready is a focal point.”
Cr Conheady said strengthening the protections for agriculture would be priority if elected to a second term.
“I’ve always been a huge supporter of the agricultural industry because that’s where most of our prosperity is, it’s where a lot of our jobs are and it’s where a lot of opportunities are,” she said.
“It’s a foundation of the Corangamite communities, so I’ll continue to be a big supporter of the agricultural industry.
“A big focus will be our planning controls to make sure they’re right, we can adjust as needed but we need to make sure there is a greater recognition for the importance of agriculture.
“We need to look at opportunities for population growth through what people need – and helping that growth through employment opportunities and services, the practical elements which everyone needs.”
Cr Conheady said she believed big projects were on the horizon with the former Terang College P-4 site, the availability of childcare and the growth or residential housing all being major areas which would need focus over the coming years.
“The former Terang College P-4 site has been vacated so it’ll be a long-term vision as the Department of Education explores declaring it surplus to needs, but I have been talking with various parties in the community to have a think about the potential for that site,” she said.
“I want us to be on the front-foot there as it could be a good opportunity for Terang which we don’t want sitting there useless.
“We also need to work harder at creating more child care spaces in Corangamite Shire, so I’ll have a particular focus in Terang and Noorat because people can’t work or manage their lives easily without access to adequate childcare.
“I also want to look at more opportunities for residential housing, so I’m looking forward to more work being done on the structure plan for Terang and getting that framework ready so when opportunities arise we’ll be prepared through planning controls.”