Mike Bodsworth, Anglesea Ward Councillor | Political candidate

Mike Bodsworth, Anglesea Ward Councillor

Phone: +61 408 101 414

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18.01.2022 The Eden Project proposal’s biggest risk?

17.01.2022 Recycling services ground to a halt in Australia a while back, largely due to contamination of recyclable waste with non-recyclable stuff. My neighbour James is running this session - it looks great. We have such an amazing talent pool across our local communities... we can make the most of that talent by backing community-based initiatives. Not everything has to be brought in top-down by Council & other authorities.

16.01.2022 I managed the Surf Coast Walk redevelopment project over a 3 year period while working for GORCC. The SCW crosses land managed by GORCC, Council & Parks Victoria so collaboration with partner agencies was an essential part of the project. Because the track linked Torquay, Jan Juc, Anglesea, Aireys and Fairhaven, collaboration with local communities was essential too. I was proud to deliver the project on time & on budget - but the two things that satisfied me most were the quality of the finished product and the track’s value to the community. Creativity, collaborative spirit, determination and a focus on quality are things I can bring to Council, should I be elected.

13.01.2022 Imagine if enough renewable energy could be generated on the land Alcoa’s vacating to power Anglesea? And we could sustain ourselves on fresh food grown on the same site? Those ideas were part of ‘Anglesea Futures’ discussions. They got lots of support in the community but not from the big decision-makers, who just want to squeeze every drop of tourism juice out of this region. How about preservation & regeneration instead of exploitation? An imaginative & passionate Council can help bring ideas like these back to the table. By the way, the jobless rate I quote in this video is from *normal* times... not 2020, a disastrous year for so many local people & businesses.

11.01.2022 The Anglesea Futures Land Use Framework was published in 2018 by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). The Framework provides planning direction for ex-Alcoa land, both leasehold (public land leased by Alcoa) and freehold (private land owned by Alcoa). When publishing the Framework, DELWP chose not to reveal that many of its most significant proposals did not have the support of the local community. Many of its proposals are also at odds with exis...ting strategic plans like the Anglesea Structure Plan. Proponents of major development on ex-Alcoa land have repeatedly claimed that it's a 'noisy minority' objecting to the proposals - but the DELWP data shows that's not true. Check out the graphs attached. DELWP kept the data hidden until Freedom of Information (FOI) actions by local community members obtained the survey results. I am appalled with the way DELWP has handled this process. Local DELWP personnel are probably troubled by it too. The Department has overridden community preferences - in clear breach of its own Community Charter. I hope I'm elected to represent Anglesea Ward on Council, but whoever the two councillors are, I hope they'll go after this. I want DELWP to front up to the local community and at least answer these three questions: 1) why was the survey data not shared with our community? 2) why were community preferences overridden like this? 2) how legitimate is the final Framework, in the light of this? If the Anglesea Futures Framework is fully implemented it will have a huge, permanent impact on our district. Everyone who loves Anglesea and the wider district should look it up. Whether you're for it or against, it's a big deal and the more engaged people are, the better. Finally, note that it's not a draft anymore - the Framework is final. The next stage is rezoning and development applications, as none of the development proposals are permitted under current zoning. Please, get involved!