COUNCIL elections are back on track after COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works not once but twice, leaving councillors in the hot seat a year longer than expected.
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We reached out to each of the them, gave them a 250 word response limit and asked them to tell us their vision for the region, the biggest issue facing the region, what projects they would push if elected and what experience they had to do the job. These are the responses we have received to date.
Journalists across our network of regional newspapers in NSW have been giving the tier of local government a bit of a health check.
We are interested in what grassroots issues matter to residents outside of the big cities, in our regional towns and villages.
When you go to the polls on December 4, will you be concerned about the makeup of your council?
We crunched the numbers on diversity in local government and spoke to some trailblazers among women councillors, indigenous councillors and young councillors.
Disturbingly, there are several councils in, or recently out, of administration, an exercise that comes at great cost to the community both in terms of dollars and public trust.
We took a look at three case studies, retracing the troubled path of democracy at Armidale, Port Macquarie Hastings and Wingecarribee councils.
We also question what standards of behaviour we expect in the council chambers, after this video of some unseemly behaviour at Bega Valley Shire Council went viral.
People will be encouraged to vote via pre-poll and mail to meet COVID safety, but here's how to vote if you are not fully vaxxed.
At the end of a tumultuous couple of years, and with dramatic events in the State and Federal arenas stealing the headlines, it can be hard to adjust our gaze to matters closer to home.
We'll do our best to bring you as much information as we can to make sure we all have the best representation we can beyond December 4.
Vanessa Arundale
Acting Group Editor
