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Speaker 1: And we know the council race well and truly underway.

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Speaker 1: Today we are focusing on Lichfield, catching up with a

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Speaker 1: few of the candidates. You just heard from Doug Barton,

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Speaker 1: and we are giving each of the candidates six minutes.

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Speaker 1: But we've had a few listener questions in so we'll

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Speaker 1: also ask a couple of those now joining us live

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Speaker 1: on the line. Is our next candidate, Mark Side?

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Mark, Good morning Katie. Great to

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Speaker 2: be with you again.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, wonderful to have you on the show. Now, are

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Speaker 1: you ready to get started? Bring it on, let's do

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Speaker 1: it all right? Why did you decide to put your

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Speaker 1: hand up to be mayor?

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Speaker 2: I put my hand up to be mayor because I

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Speaker 2: think although we've done a lot in the last four years,

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Speaker 2: we've repaired the budget, we've focused on the simple things,

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Speaker 2: you know, roads, reserves, rubbish. I think there's a slightly

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Speaker 2: different vision or for council moving forward in the next

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Speaker 2: four years and that's why I've put my hand up

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Speaker 2: for mayor.

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Speaker 1: So in terms of your qualifications or work experience, what

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Speaker 1: would you say that you've done that make you best

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Speaker 1: place to take on the position.

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Speaker 2: I've been a south Wall councilor since twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 2: a member of Council's Audit Committee since twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 2: lagant representatives since twenty twenty one, I've been a member

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Speaker 2: of the steering committee for the ten million dollar Threads

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Speaker 2: Past Reserve lighting and netbal facility upgrades and construction. I

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Speaker 2: have extensive local government experience as an employee in the

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Speaker 2: areas of financial management, workh health and safety, human resources

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Speaker 2: and governments, and apart from being a councilor for the

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Speaker 2: last four years, I've also worked in senior local government

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Speaker 2: roles for the excess eight years, and I've consulted to

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Speaker 2: local government on risk, liability and insurance matters for the

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Speaker 2: past twenty twenty five years. But I suppose more importantly,

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Speaker 2: no single person can claim ownership of over the progress

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Speaker 2: Lichfield Council has made in the past four years because

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Speaker 2: we are a team. In the last twelve months, councilors

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Speaker 2: on council have become increasingly divided because of a number

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Speaker 2: of contentious decisions. I think I'm the best person to

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Speaker 2: bring council back together and move forward for Lichfield.

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Speaker 1: Now, mark in terms of you know your commitment, so

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Speaker 1: I know that you sort of mentioned then a new

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Speaker 1: approach in terms of delivering some of these different commitments.

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Speaker 1: But what would you say your top three commitments to

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Speaker 1: voters in the Litchfield municipality.

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Speaker 2: My top three commitments are to keep residential and general

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Speaker 2: rates increases to a minimum while providing enhancing expanded services.

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Speaker 2: We can do this through proper budget management, and I

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Speaker 2: would love to make the point that this year our

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Speaker 2: rates increases three percent, which is exceptional. I will also

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Speaker 2: have domestic waste items currently been charged for for disposal,

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Speaker 2: including fridges, air conditions and tires, et cetera, made free

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Speaker 2: of charge. I tried to bring this in last year.

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Speaker 2: There was a compromise I suppose with a with a

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Speaker 2: voucher system, and now that we have figures on the

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Speaker 2: voucher system, we know with our existing revenues we can

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Speaker 2: offer these services, this disposal of this type of waste

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Speaker 2: to our constituents free of charge, and I'll be very

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Speaker 2: strong on that. The other thing is I want to

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Speaker 2: focus reserves have rightly been focused on, but I want

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Speaker 2: to expand this r to recreation. Now that is reserves,

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Speaker 2: that is our new community library, that is increasing the

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Speaker 2: bike paths, so not so much, so I want to

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Speaker 2: expand the focus to provide more recreational opportunities for the

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Speaker 2: entire Litchfield demographic.

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Speaker 1: Now, a question that we're asking all of the candidates.

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Speaker 1: Are you a member of a political party or have

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Speaker 1: you ever been?

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Speaker 2: I can categorically say I'm not a member of any

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Speaker 2: political party, and I have never been a member of

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Speaker 2: a political party. So the information provided by Doug Barton

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Speaker 2: previously is inaccurate and incorrect.

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Speaker 1: So not a member of the CLP.

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Speaker 2: Definitely no, Sorry, not definitely not. No, I've never been

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Speaker 2: a member of the CLP or the Labor Party, and

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Speaker 2: I'm not presently a member of the COLP or the

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Speaker 2: Labor Party. And I've never been a member of any

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Speaker 2: political party, and I'm not presently a member of any

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Speaker 2: political party.

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Speaker 1: You just said that a little bit weirdly at the moment,

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Speaker 1: So you said not definitely not, but you're definitely not.

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Speaker 2: I'm definitely not a member of any political party, nor

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Speaker 2: have I ever been confirming. It would be fair to

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Speaker 2: say that those who know me and have observed me

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Speaker 2: over the years, I consider myself center right, but I've

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Speaker 2: come back further to the center over the the past

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Speaker 2: four years because of live life experiences.

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Speaker 1: All Right, a couple of listener questions that we've had,

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Speaker 1: and I asked these to Doug as well. Does the

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Speaker 1: Council have any plans to completely take over the operation

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Speaker 1: of Fred's Pass Reserves.

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Speaker 2: This has been a discussion within council for the past

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Speaker 2: four years. No definite decision has ever been made and

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Speaker 2: at the moment the status quo remains.

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Speaker 1: I mean, do you think that they should take over?

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Speaker 2: I do not have a strong opinion one way or another,

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Speaker 2: as long as the model in place is fit for

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Speaker 2: purpose for the reserve and Litchfield constituents and users.

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Speaker 1: Hey another one, where do you see the future of

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Speaker 1: the Fred's Past show. We're being told that it could

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Speaker 1: be relocating to Livingstone Reserve. I mean, what are your

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Speaker 1: thoughts on that?

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Speaker 2: That has been mentioned, but it is my understanding there

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Speaker 2: was mentioned in the context of next year's Polo Cross Nationals,

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Speaker 2: which the preparation and running of that event conflict with

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Speaker 2: the time of the show. The regular time of the show,

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Speaker 2: so the idea to move to Livingston was floated. I

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Speaker 2: was not aware that it was supposed to be a

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Speaker 2: permanent move. I would suggest that moving it to Livingston

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Speaker 2: would create a lot of hurdles. There'd be a huge

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Speaker 2: amount of infrastructure that would need to be built at

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Speaker 2: significant cost, and also traffic management plans. I have no

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Speaker 2: idea how you control traffic floating amount of a relatively

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Speaker 2: confined road broad space in area.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it does sound as there's still a bit

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Speaker 1: of discussion to happen there around Fred's pass show. Hey, Mark,

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Speaker 1: I'll ask you one more listener question to give you

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Speaker 1: the same amount of time as what Doug. And there

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Speaker 1: is another one that's come through. Watch your view on

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Speaker 1: Nunamar Ridge and the urbanization of Elizabeth Valley.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so I support the urbanization that has already been

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Speaker 2: approved in the whole Quaniti area. I think it will

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Speaker 2: add to our rate space. In relation to Elizabeth Valley,

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Speaker 2: Council made it very clear, and I'm one of those

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Speaker 2: that we did not consider the current opposal to have

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Speaker 2: enough information to make a properly informed decision. So at

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Speaker 2: the moment, I'm not a yes or no. I'm very

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Speaker 2: much in the in the spot of we need more

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Speaker 2: information so that properly considered decisions can be made.

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Speaker 1: Well, that is all we've got time for It is

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Speaker 1: fantastic to speak to you this morning. Really appreciate your

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Speaker 1: time and good to find out a little bit more

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Speaker 1: about what you're standing for for the Mayor of Lichfield.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Katie, thank you too,