New Council Members - Cr Paul Huebl and Cr Harvey Jones

Cr Paul Huebl | Cr Harvey Jones

Cr Paul Huebl

We have just had a weekend of torrential rain and wind that has seen near-hourly BOM warnings issued for Burnside. While this type of weather is not unusual, the intensity and frequency certainly are and it is here to stay. Our changing climate has led to more extreme weather events that impact our lives and properties to a point where we must adapt our approaches to city management, even if there is not much we can do to change it.

We currently mandate fuel clearing of properties in our high bushfire threat zones; shall we apply this approach to the clearing of waterways through private land? What about culverts? Is our guttering infrastructure sufficient? Are we doing enough to retain green canopy of private land to protect urban cooling, and wildlife corridors that promote biodiversity?

Roads, Rates and Rubbish are all we should do according to some, but this is an outdated idea and simply goes against our mandate from the Local Government Act. We have a responsibility to improve the quality of life in the community which the City of Burnside does remarkably well. This is why it is the best place in Adelaide to live.

We are not only entering a new year but also a new era on council. I am pleased to be continuing to represent the Beaumont Ward along with Cr Harvey Jones for a second term. I am humbled by the support I have received during the election period and thank each and every resident who assisted my campaign.

Enjoy the holiday period, the hopefully nicer weather and please be in touch if there is anything I can do to help make your community an even better place to live.

Cr Harvey Jones

First of all, thank you for re-electing me to Council. I think we achieved a lot in the last four years and I think that this was borne out by the fact that the Mayor and all seven of the councillors seeking re-election were re-elected. But we still have some renewal, with five newly elected councillors. I look forward to working with them to make the City of Burnside even better.

A key challenge for over the next four years is going to be planning and development.

The Planning and Design Code introduced by the state government in the last council term was very, very bad. But it wasn't nearly as bad in Burnside as most of metropolitan Adelaide. Council successfully lobbied to maintain character and heritage protections in inner-east suburbs, to remove suburbs such as Linden Park from high-density development zones and to preserve large block sizes in the upland parts of council running from Auldana through to Beaumont.

The Planning and Design Code is now up for review. We know what's wrong with it. We have developed a City Master Plan with our vision for the City of Burnside. Now we need to persuade the state government to fix it.

We also face fiscal challenges. Burnside Council has a lot of debt and interest rates are going up. This was predicted - by me at least. We need to cut our cloth to suit our purse. Everyone seems to think that Burnside is populated entirely by silvertails who can afford endless rates increases but it's not true.

And away from the big stuff, if you have a problem give me a call. Planning, trees, footpaths, traffic, parking. I can't fix everything but I'll have a red-hot go.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!