A trickle of people rolled up to cast an early vote as pre-polling for the upcoming council election opened on Monday morning.
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The NSW Electoral Commission is holding the pre-poll for Goulburn Mulwaree and Upper Lachlan Shire council elections at 133 Bourke Street, opposite the Civic Centre.
Seventeen candidates, including a Labor ticket of five, have put forward their names for Goulburn Mulwaree and 12 for Upper Lachlan Shire's December 4 election.
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Returning officer Lars Gudiksen said while only a "handful" of voters turned up on Monday, the Electoral Commission forecast numbers to rise to 400 a day this week and peak at 1500 on the last day, December 3.
"We are projecting that 10,000 Goulburn Mulwaree and 3800 Upper Lachlan voters, or roughly 50 per cent, will use pre-poll," he said.
Local man Barry McDonald had the "honour" of being the first to lodge his choices for the Goulburn Mulwaree election.
Candidates' sandwich boards were positioned outside but only two nominees, Labor's number one runner, Jason Shepherd and independent Michael Prevedello were rousing up support. Candidates are prevented from handing out campaign material within 100 metres of the polling station, due to COVID restrictions. However they can stand within six metres of the door if not distributing material.
Mr McDonald said he was surprised by the number of people who didn't know an election was being held. Goulburn Mulwaree will elect nine positions, with six existing councillors re-nominating.
For Mr McDonald, several issues are rating higher than others.
"Bring back clean-up week," he said of the annual council kerbside pick-up.
"That's the loudest thing I'm hearing from people, particularly seniors. They don't like that the council took it away."
He'd also like to see pedestrians have right of way over cyclists on the Riverwalk, as applied in some other council areas, and consistency of speed limits in and around the CBD. He has previously criticised the change from 50km/h to 40km/h in Auburn Street.
Mr McDonald said he hoped the new Performing Arts Centre would be popular but feared it might not be used on a regular basis.
"I wonder whether it's going to be a really expensive building that's little used," he said.
While he'd tried to do his research, he did not feel he had enough information on the candidates.
Meantime, Defence department retiree Denis Ausling also cast an early vote. He said he was interested in council affairs and regularly brought issues to the organisation's attention.
Mr Ausling wants to see a better balance between heritage and new development. He and his wife are restoring a 106-year-old home and live among EC Manfred designed houses.
"The state of Kenmore Hospital and the old (Mundy Street) orphanage are shocking. I don't think the council has done enough," he said.
Abandoned shopping trolleys, property damage and condition of roads also rate highly in his mind. He too was looking for more information on the candidates.
Bungonia district woman, Katty Villafuerte said Bungonia might have avoided a waste to energy plant but she was unhappy the state government had identified Tarago as a precinct to host the technology.
"There are other ways to tackle the waste problem," she said.
"They need to encourage better ways to encourage zero waste. It's a problem for our whole future. It's getting bigger and it's not about pushing waste somewhere else."
Goulburn Mulwaree Council has opposed the precinct's establishment and Veolia's waste to energy proposal at Tarago.
Pre-polling runs from 9am to 5pm from November 22 to December 3, but is closed on Sunday, November 28.
People can also take advantage of postal voting. iVoting is available to those with disabilities or who need assistance, silent electors, those who live more than 20km from a polling station or who will not be in the council area on election day. More information is available at elections.nsw.gov.au/iVote or by calling 1300 24 8683.
The 17 Goulburn Mulwaree candidates in order of appearance on the ballot paper are:
- Andrew Banfield
- Adam Milani
- Margaret O'Neill
- Michael Prevedello
- Carol James
- Daniel Strickland
- Steve Ruddell
- Andy Wood (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party)
- Peter Walker
- Tim Dally
- Bob Kirk
- Leah Ferrara (The Greens)
The Labor ticket will appear separately on the ballot paper. The candidates are:
- Jason Shepherd
- Anna Wurth-Crawford
- Danielle Marsden-Ballard.
- Warren Murray
- Nathan Smith
Do you have something to say about this issue? Send a letter to the editor. Click here for the Goulburn Post,
Louise Thrower
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
