LOCAL government stalwarts Neil Gorey and Ann Crowe are returning uncontested to Murray River Council (MRC).
Crs Gorey and Crowe will serve a second term on council, representing the main townships of Tooleybuc, Moulamein, Murray Downs and Barham in the Greater Wakool Ward.
The pair were first elected in 2017 following the amalgamation of Wakool and Murray shires.
Cr Alan Mathers has opted not to re-contest a seat at the table when residents head to the polls on December 4.
The 2020 local government elections were postponed for 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MRC will have seven candidates elected uncontested, with residents to head to the polls next year to elect a further two councillors for the Greater Wakool and Greater Murray Wards.
However, it’s been revealed a candidate for Greater Wakool Ward was rejected due to an error they made in their online application.
Mayor Chris Bilkey will also serve another term of four years on council, representing the Moama Ward, alongside incumbent Nikki Cohen and new candidate Francis Crawley.
The Greater Murray Ward will be represented by incumbent Thomas Weyrich and Kron Nicholas, also a new face to council.
Despite not voting for candidates, MRC residents will still need to mark December 4 on their calendars as they will be required to vote on a referendum question on whether to abolish the council’s three wards to become an undivided local government area.
Voting in the referendum is compulsory for all those on the electoral role in MRC.
Cr Crowe said she decided to re-nominate to ensure the western side of the council area had representation.
“We have some good projects in the pipeline with the new bridge coming in Moama and enhancing the main streets,” she said.
“Also looking at Murray Downs and whether there is any way to enhance development that’s available for people to purchase.
“Unlike other parts of the council area, we haven’t had the significant population increase.
“The challenge is finding ways to capture some of that growth.”
Cr Crowe said the next term of council would also see work begin on a new boat ramp and nature reserve at Murray Downs.
“We have now got a masterplan for that area with about a dozen different items in order of the community’s priorities,” she said.
“We have $920,000 to start the boat ramp process then hopefully we can find more funding for other parts of the area including a barbecue area, play area and walking tracks.”
Cr Gorey said he was disappointed not all positions were filled.
“I was never 100 per cent about standing again, but given the lack of candidates and not knowing, I felt a responsibility to re-nominate,” he said.
“The lack of interest could have been the tyranny of distance, some people who nominated just missed out, a bit of COVID fatigue and those who watched council meetings online were probably disappointed with the behaviour of some councillors and switched off.”
Cr Gorey said the Local Environmental Plans would be a major issue for the next term of council.
“We have a battle on our hands as far as convincing state planning of the need for more residential development,” he said.
“Places like Moulamein and Murray Downs have lots of land which you can’t build on.
“It’s a ridiculous situation to have three hectare blocks classed as rural land, which means you can’t build houses on it.
“We look at that and think, you can’t farm on three hectare blocks, so it should be made residential.
“It’s in no man’s land.”
Cr Gorey, who put forward the motion for an unsubdivided council, was unsure if it was the right move for now.
“With population growth in Moama, we are losing voting power in the west,” he admitted.
“I can see the Greater Wakool and Murray Wards shrinking in size as population in Moama becomes greater.”
Escalating building and machinery costs post-COVID and less government grants were named as two challenges councils would face in the next four years.
LOCAL council candidates who made errors in their online application were rejected, according to Murray River councillor Neil Gorey.
“Council adopted a new online nomination system which didn’t work particularly well,” he said.
“Those who bothered to go over to Moama and lodge their nomination at the electorate office certainly had a much better go.
“They were scrutinised before they even nominated and were put into the system straight away.”
Cr Gorey said at least one candidate for the Greater Wakool Ward and two in the Edward River Council had their online nominations rejected due to errors made.
“If you read the fine print, no, you can’t appeal the rejection,” he said.
Cr Gorey said he nominated on the Monday and didn’t find out until the late Wednesday he had been accepted.
“There was no chance for reviewing the online application or anything,” he said.
“Even at the close of the lodgement you still had no idea … it was a complicated online process.
“If you made any mistakes you would have been rejected.”
Cr Gorey said he thought electoral officials would notify candidates of mistakes in their applications before the close of nominations.
“I feel sorry for the staff,” he said.
“Their hotlines were overloaded, website was overloaded — it couldn’t handle the traffic.
“Something has gone wrong at the top.
“Fortunately I got mine right, but assumed I had missed out when I didn’t get accepted straight away.”
The NSW Electoral Commission said it didn’t comment on why a specific person’s nomination might not have been accepted.
“Any concerns that are raised about a decision to reject a nomination are carefully reviewed by the NSW Electoral Commission but there is no discretion to extend time to rectify errors,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.
“Under the Local Government Regulation 2021, late nominations (nomination proposals submitted after 12 noon) cannot be accepted.
“However, there is a right under the legislative framework to be given written reasons for the rejection of the nomination upon request, but there is no specific avenue of appeal or internal review.”
The spokesperson said after explaining the reasons for the rejection decision, still aggrieved persons were advised by the NSW Electoral Commission to seek independent legal advice if they wished to consider taking the matter further.
