A special candidate information session was held at Blayney Community Centre and Blayney's current councillors Scott Ferguson, Allan Ewin, David Somervaille, John Newstead and Bruce Reynolds not only were given a refresh on the role of being a councillor, they also met three residents who are considering throwing their hat in the ring.
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Councillors David Kingham and Scott Denton were absent from the meeting.
Presented by former Labor mayor of Lismore Jenny Dowell, the two hour session was of interest to three potential candidates in the upcoming September local government elections, Tim Kelly, Iris Dorsett and Geoff Avnell.
Whilst Mrs Dorsett and Mr Avnell are still considering their options, former Blayney Chronicle editor Tim Kelly has said that he won't be taking any further steps in becoming a councillor.
"It's changed a lot since I was on Leichardt council in the late 1970's," he said. "It's not for me. It just seems now to be unbelievably bureaucratic. The councillors seem to be all tied up in administration."
Mr Kelly said that his main interests are climate change and sustainability and found it difficult to find any commitment from Blayney council on these issues.
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"It's difficult to find information on the council website and documents where there is a commitment or real awareness where they could play an important role in what happens within the whole shire," he said.
Working within communities to create change is the direction Mr Kelly is now planning on taking.
"It's all about what you can do yourself locally," he said. "I think that if I could team up with other people it's possible for the council to see that council can play a significant role."
Mark Logan
Started working in newspapers in the 1990's in the darkroom of the Pastoral Times in Deniliquin before moving to Millthorpe in 2003. Soon after arriving I started as a photographer at the CWD. Now a journalist at the Blayney Chronicle.
Started working in newspapers in the 1990's in the darkroom of the Pastoral Times in Deniliquin before moving to Millthorpe in 2003. Soon after arriving I started as a photographer at the CWD. Now a journalist at the Blayney Chronicle.
