It’s been a few months since I gave my first update after becoming a councillor.
While that initial learning curve has certainly rounded off slightly, I’m now more aware of where my knowledge of council and planning processes are lacking and have started to proactively work on improving my understanding and expanding my skillset. Through exposure to the regular flow of council business, I’m beginning to pick up on patterns which will help me to become more aware of when part of a decision or motion before the council sticks out as unusual or potentially problematic.
I’m also making it a regular habit to meet with the council staff to discuss specific topics when I feel like I don’t have the full picture or want to better understand what legwork the council has already done or plans to do. Through my role I’m gently focusing the staff to be more aware of the things that are my priorities as a councillor and by extension, the priorities of Sustainable Australia Party.
Cam and the Mayor attending the official opening of Ngalambay, an indigenous art installation.
While I don’t intend to give an exhaustive list of everything I’ve done over the last few months, I wanted to highlight a few different places I’ve made a positive difference. Sometimes it’s small changes that, when looked at in a vacuum, don’t seem like much, but when added up over the course of a four year term can equal a great amount of positive progress! One such example is an amendment I made to a motion brought by another councillor which sought for the council to investigate creating stickers of local fauna for use on rubbish bins. My amendment added in that any profit from the sale of such stickers would be directed to conservation and sustainability programs within the LGA.
Questions I asked the staff about Community Justice Centres (as they’re currently on the chopping block) in one council meeting emboldened the mayor to take further action to try and save them by speaking with the authorities in charge of the decision. Without my interventions the council may have not pursued the issue any further than the original letter of concern that was written and promptly brushed away.
On a motion that council create a report on mobility scooter charging stations in the public domain, I wrote an amendment to include e-bikes, e-scooters and other such devices in the report, this will hopefully promote more investment in alternative transport options that are environmentally friendly. While there were some questionable politics in play that meant a Labor councillor ended up moving a near verbatim version of my amendment, the outcome was that the amendment was adopted. Given that my purpose in council is very much results driven, I still consider it a win in my books. Even though my name isn’t attached it’s the results and the good outcomes for the community that matter.
Cr McEwan’s first NoMs.
There were also some more significant decisions that were made which I’m proud to share. In December I brought my first two Notices of Motion (or NoMs) before the council, one asked the council to provide a report on Dharawal (the local indigenous) words to be used for road and place names. The second was for the council to write to state ministers and local members in regards to Koala Awareness Zones on Appin Rd, to put in better safeguards for our koalas on a notoriously dangerous stretch of state road. It was fantastic to see koala activities and passionate locals turn up to support this. Both of these motions passed unanimously by the council after some debate and minor amendments had been made.
I was also pleased to persuasively speak to the chamber and vote in favour of a proposal to build a pedestrian footbridge across Bow Bowing Creek at a crossing between Minto and Bow Bowing. Currently this crossing is dangerous and highly flood prone which discourages and often outright prevents people from opting to take environmentally friendly transport options when commuting. Having this motion pass was a big win for the local community and one I was proud to be a part of. While the report was still being prepared I was also able to advocate to the council to install flood warning signage to make people more actively aware of the risks that the crossing presents.
It’s not all roses and sunshine in the chamber though and sometimes I have difficult decisions to make. A recent proposal came before the council in regards to a section of land which was to be rezoned to allow for a golf course to become large rural living plots. Because of its proximity to the scenic hills, there was resistance to the proposal and I had to carefully weigh up the pros and cons that came with each potential outcome of the decision. In the end I voted in favour of the proposal as I believed it to be the best option for the community, with it unlocking the ridgeline of the hills to allow for a public walking path to be put in place and creating more opportunities for diverse housing options in the local area.
Cr McEwan speaking on a motion in the council chambers.
Outside of the chamber I’ve also been busy attending events around the local area and further abroad. I was interviewed on the topic of sustainability for a Campbelltown youth podcast. I was challenged by some of the questions posed and after the interview I continued to reflect on how our youth view sustainability.
I also attended the Sydney Town Hall COP. This event was the first of its kind and saw a number of councils from all across the greater Sydney region convene to discuss climate action in Australia. The ideas we came up with during the town hall will be collated and presented to state and federal policy makers, as well as to international stakeholders.
I still have much I hope to achieve going forward and I look forward to sharing more with you in the future.
Again, thank you for your support and if you have any questions or other local issues you wish to raise with me, please don’t hesitate to message me at my new council email: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Cr Cameron McEwan
Councillor - Campbelltown City Council
Sustainable Australia Party
