Quarterly Column

May 2026

For my last quarterly column and with council elections not that far away, I wanted to share my thoughts on not only a councillor’s responsibilities, but also what anyone thinking about nominating in the next council elections needs to be aware of.

As a city councillor, you represent your city whenever and wherever you are – regularly being asked council-related questions while out in the community – so you’ll need to always be mindful of that fact. The city’s CEO, the directors and administration staff are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the council. These council officials will put forward future plans and government requirements, in fact a multitude of varied and different issues that require an elected member’s input and support, normally required by a majority vote at a council meeting.

Councillors are supplied an agenda prior to a council meeting, detailing the information needed to assist a councillor in making a decision on the questions and resolutions required to progress any proposal made / requested. Bearing in mind that any decision made affects Whyalla’s development. Besides a councillor receiving a comprehensive agenda to study and read, varying in size from 300 pages up to 500 pages, councillors are expected to attend a couple of briefing sessions in between council meetings to ensure they have as much information and knowledge on the items they are required to vote on.

Anyone contemplating nominating themselves as a councillor should be fully aware of some important information. Council has a council meeting once a month lasting between 2 to 3 hours; an occasional special council meeting as-and-when required; and anything between 2 or 3 briefing sessions per month (which again can take 2 or 3 hours each). Added to this, council conducts public consultations at a number of times per year, including at our annual budget release and up to 4 or 5 face-to-face sessions that cover various topics throughout the year. Also not forgetting any individual contacts / discussions / meetings you will experience from time to time.

Whilst it’s a personally rewarding role, knowing your responsibilities and what you need to be very much aware of before nominating is extremely important.

IMPORTANT POINTS BEFORE NOMINATING…

1 Attend a couple of council meetings to get a basic idea of procedures

2 Attend the pre-election information session presented by council, as well as the Electoral Commission of SA’s session (details to be provided)

3 Do not have any personal agenda

A bit of extra knowledge…Elected Members are not generally involved in decision making in regard to council’s day-to-day operational matters, nor in matters regarding governance or compliance with government regulations – these are overseen by council staff / administration. However, they are kept informed on these matters and regularly asked for feedback. Elected members’ focus is on the bigger picture decisions that help guide council’s overall direction and priorities.

Previous columns:

November 2025

In my previous columns, I spoke a little about myself; a little about council’s interactions with our state government; and the great work done by council staff, both office and outdoor. This time I’ll touch on issues that are brought up in various conversations and on different (un)social media sites.

There has been a lot of criticism and comments on how untidy our city is looking. Whilst our outdoor staff have the difficult job of keeping on top of our many kilometres of verges and medium strips, I believe we, as residents, must carry some of the responsibility. The amount of junk on the verges all around Whyalla is out of hand. While there are residents who have unwanted goods that would be useful to others, and so advertise and monitor these items, others use the verges as a dumping point for items that could only be described as junk. All residents have one free hard waste pickup available via Bedford Industries, who advise the date they will collect and that the goods should be put out 24 hours prior to pick up, so there’s no reason any items should be left out longer than that. If you see any waste left on verges longer than that, be sure to report it to council.

On the subject of our untidy city, as a councillor, I have a number of residents reporting unsightly properties, houses and buildings, and there is quite a number that need addressing. Under EPA regulations, I am unable to lodge a complaint on behalf of those concerned residents. The EPA will accept unsightly reports from neighbours of the property in question, as the residents in the direct vicinity could be affected by their property’s devaluation. I will say that I personally don’t agree with their position, but I would encourage anyone that believes they have an issue, contact council who will endeavour to resolve your issues.

August 2025

Hello all. In my first column for this forum, I spoke a little about myself and family; a little about my life and history in Whyalla; I covered some issues that I love about Whyalla; and a few areas that are a little disappointing.  This time I’ll mention some of the city’s strong points, both current and near future.

Something a lot of our residents would not be aware of is the fact that the Whyalla City Council has, over a number of years, developed a good working relationship with our State Government. This relationship – thanks to great work by key staff members – has been basically fundamental in this council / city receiving:

• A large amount of funding to upgrade our airport runway, allowing heavier, larger capacity aircraft to land and take off
• Funds for a splash area at the foreshore
• Significant funds toward our surf lifesaving / shared facilities building

Each of these have been crucial in enabling us to undertake major projects / upgrades for our community, all while reducing the pressure on our ratepayers.

Whilst mentioning council staff, it would be remiss of me not to also comment on the efforts of all council employees, including our hard-working outdoor crews that keep our playgrounds and parks/reserves maintained; the staff that work at the cemetery; the staff that mow the road plantations and verges (a task that, due to our climate, is never ending); and those who perform various office tasks.

What our residents often forget, is that Whyalla has infrastructure designed for a population of 50/60,000, making the tasks of the staff – particularly the outdoor employees – that little bit harder.

As councillors, we rely on all these people to not only perform their normal day-to-day tasks, but handle any additional requests we ask of them as a result of requests we receive from our residents. Unfortunately, this quite often goes without the thanks deserved, as they all do a fantastic job. There’s always room for improvement, but we should appreciate what they’re able to achieve given how much they need to cover across the city.

March 2025

Hello to my fellow residents. To those who don’t know me, I’ve been a Whyalla resident since 1962, completed my schooling here, joined the workforce, 98% in the electrical retail industry, married, somehow had a family (as when I wasn’t at work, I was at a soccer club!) and now boast that we have three generations living, working and thriving in our great city.

Like a lot of others, we have experienced every one of Whyalla’s many ups and downs and am proud to say that these experiences have helped in not only making my family and myself into extremely positive in our outlooks, but incredibly proud of our long-term residents who have stayed strong and that we always come out stronger. Whilst securing long-term industry is not in council’s nor my remit, our job is to support in every way possible, to assist any future business venture, private and/or government who wishes to establish their base in our great city.

We, like most towns and cities, have our problems, which as a community, we must overcome together. One of these issues is that a number of people have taken a decision to exploit our dry zone area by gathering on that zone’s perimeter, which has caused some anxiety in the more vulnerable sections of our community. To address this, the council are undertaking a public survey in regards to expanding our dry zone to encompass the whole city. SAPOL have a huge say in this being successful, so what may help is for those residents affected by the individuals making life difficult, to report their issues to SAPOL to enable them to have evidence of complaints, rather than simply posting on social media. SAPOL tend to plan and action their resources on actual direct complaints, not via social media.

One of the disappointing things occurring in Whyalla is the general lack in pride from homeowners and rental occupied properties. We have quite a number of properties throughout the city that are neglected by the residents. Council has quite a large area to maintain and this tends to happen in six-week cycles (mowing, weeding etc), but some homeowners / occupiers completely ignore any tidying or maintenance around their own homes. This is disappointing, as growing up here, we were not only proud of Whyalla, but of our homes.

A point to remember – all of Whyalla’s councillors were elected because they want to do whatever they can for Whyalla and its residents, which we all are. Our contact details are readily available – including on council’s website – for any help, advice or assistance we are able to give.