Deb White elected to council
Sharon Webb
Meander Valley has a new councillor following the resignation of Susie Bower, who is standing for Lyons in the coming federal election.
Cllr Deb White was elected on a recount of the 2018 vote but is not a new face on the council.
She was a councillor for two terms following the 2009 and 2014 elections but lost her seat in 2018.
‘I’m pleased to be offered the opportunity for further input into Meander Valley,’ Cllr White said.
‘I’ve had almost three years’ break, resting up and enjoying our five acres at Exton. Coming back to the council felt like the right thing to do.’
But Cllr White said at this stage she doubts she will stand again for the 2022 council elections.
Susie Bower, who was elected to Meander Valley Council in 2018, said she resigned to focus on the wider community as the federal Liberal candidate for Lyons.
Psephologist Dr Kevin Bonham’s analysis of the recent TAI poll predicts a swing of five per cent to the Liberals in Lyons.
He believes the 2019 disendorsement of Lyons Liberal Jessica Whelan for posting anti-Muslim comments on social media deflated the Liberal vote, and expects the party to add Lyons to wins in Bass and Braddon.
Ms Bower said, ‘I am privileged to have been elected to represent the people of the Meander Valley and am working to continue serving them in a different way,’ she said.
‘I have thoroughly enjoyed working in Meander Valley and that will of course continue. Through the council I have been involved with the Carrick Hall Committee, Blackstone Heights Community Committee, Mole Creek Progress Association, Meander Progress Association, Great Western Tiers Tourism Association, Bracknell Hall Redevelopment Committee, Meander Valley Suns Football and Westbury Bowls Club.
‘I have been a strong advocate for youth and engaged with them to obtain initial funding from the council to design the Deloraine pump track.
‘I have also been active in driving the Bracknell Hall redevelopment and new squash courts for Deloraine.’
Cllr White was inducted onto Meander Valley Council minutes before the July council meeting. She jumped straight into decision making on the August 11 public meeting to be held about the State Government’s proposed northern prison.
Before the council meeting she had said she had no position on the prison and was not adequately informed about it.
‘The petition for a public meeting seems uncontroversial. A public meeting is a good idea,’ she said.
On council decision making Cllr White said, ‘I’d like to see intelligent decisions made about the direction of the municipality’s economic development and encourage use of innovative technology.
‘I’m interested in economic development that is sustainable, not the old style of using things up.
‘For example, the regenerative farming that’s taking hold in many places and the onsite fish farm, 41 Degrees South, which filters its waste through wetland.’
