Stephen Gardner 4 Tarrengower | Politician

Stephen Gardner 4 Tarrengower

Phone: +61 429 595 056

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25.01.2022 Voteing closes this Friday but it is a public holiday so I dont think if you put it in the mail it will be counted (Wont be post marked until the following Monday). It would need to be hand delivered on Friday to the VEC office in Castlemaine. There is a fine if you dont vote. Had a couple of comments - Politicians are crap, who cares . This is a valid statement if that is how you feel, so even if you feel this way, dont actually vote on the ballot, write something onto the... ballot to that affect if you want to and mail it back. How you vote is confidential but best to not get fined cos who needs the drama at the momment. SG See more

23.01.2022 The last 2.5 years as the Councillor for Tarrengower has been an absolute blast and a pleasure. I have enjoyed talking to people about their Council issues and trying to do something about them. When I was elected I set priorities which I felt was important to people of Tarrengower from people talking to me about their issues, community led priorities and things I observed going about my day to day life. I was elected in a by election due to the loss of our Councillor (big ...Continue reading

22.01.2022 If I am re-elected I will Finalise the Master Plan for the Bill Woodfull Oval and see that female friendly change rooms are built Implement the Maldon Streetscape with the local community, traders and heritage experts Extend the free waste period and 2 free vouchers to the tip per year and support energy to burn projects Plan Baringhup. A community led process to amend the planning laws to support how the broader community and township develops.... Continue and extend the weed side management program and increased tree planting Make the upgradeing of Foggarty Gaps Rd as the number one priority Ensure we are ready for the Bushfire season and would encourage cultural burns Advocate for more General Practitioners and mental health services Advocate for infrastructure improvements in water, electricity and NBN Support the development of micro business Acting as your Councillor I will always: Listen and act on behalf of all communities Continue to make the Council efficient, accountable and stable Support local jobs through Council tenders and encourage micro business Support Tarrengower to recover from COVID19 Continue to advocate for our local community groups and events Support appropriate development in Tarrengower that maintains heritage and our rural lifestyles Ensure more investments in our roads, gutters and footpaths Will always try to reduce Council rates and charges Continue to support community lunches, Aged care and our local pool.

21.01.2022 Voteing packs have arrived and I would urge you to vote Gardner 1 and McHugh 2 and follow the instructions as every vote will count. Please dont hold my pre ISO haircut against me.

20.01.2022 Voting has now closed. A preliminary count takes place next Wednesday with the final in a week or so. Thank you for those that voted for me. Those that did not or donkey voted also demonstrate that I had to try harder. Regardless of the outcome it has been a great experience meeting people I probably would never have, getting to know some of the great work done by our local people and organisations. The resilience of our traders and small businesses during COVID19 was also am...azing to witness. COVID19 really struck home to me what an amazing place we live in. Everyone did there best to protect our elderly and most vulnerable. Regardless of the outcome for me or the Council in general I'm confident that Tarrengower will forge ahead due to the amazing, resilient and incredibly talented people who live here. Thanks you everyone for the last 2.5 year's.

18.01.2022 I have been asked about when is a community forum for this Council elections as there has been in the past. Myself and all candidates across Victoria have to abide by the Victorian Electoral Commissions guidelines during COVID19. Stay safe and be kind to each other. Please refer to the website below for further information.... https://www.vec.vic.gov.au//2020-/providing-safe-elections See more

18.01.2022 Rates and budgets I dislike paying rates, just like everyone. In the last 2.5 years I have tried everything to lower rates and reduce charges. It is a constant battle. One thing I found out very quickly is how rates are calculated is a very complex thing and it takes into consideration the type of property, the zone, fluctuation of property markets, capital improvements and lots of formulas. ... During the budget process there are many people and organisations that want more. More roads, paths and gutters. There are many people in our communities that need help. Everyone’s wishes are valid but the Councils budget is not huge considering the geographical size of the Shire, low number of households, a big network of roads, footpaths, community and sporting facilities . The list is endless and not everything can be funded. I was elected in a by election in Feb 19 and most of the 18/19 budget had been finalised. As this budget contained very few projects for Tarrengower, I voted against it. I voted for the 19/20 budget as it contained a number of projects for Tarrengower that my community wanted. There was an expansion of services and some operational efficiencies plus a local jobs content. The Rates increased but below the rate cap but still it could have been better. The 20/21 budget was derailed by COVID19 and I felt that a rates increase was not justifiable and a number of people could not afford any increase. This was an ongoing discussion for nearly a year. There was limited support for this, so I tried again at the last minute. It didn’t work. The comprise was the creation of COVID19 hardship policies and an increase in local jobs content. I supported this budget as there was a number of big projects for Tarrengower with infrastructure upgrades, continuation of community lunches and Aged Care services. The normal Council budget process takes up most of the year and starts in November. Candidates will tell you they will do this but I can confidently say it isn’t that easy, particularly when every Councillor makes a lot of promises to get elected. I cannot promise your rates will go down but when it comes to Councils rates and the budget process I can commit to advocating for: A reduction in Council rates and charges A reduction in administrative costs and drive down operational costs Council to focus on its core services and see that they are delivered efficiently and effectivly Ensuring that resources are equitably spread across the Shire and support my communities Ensuring that when using your money, it is spent in an open and transparent manner Council to continue and maintain its strong financial position.

17.01.2022 Plan Baringhup Baringhup is really a great location, great community, Cairn Curran is really the best spot of water in this Shire and up until recently had the only dog park. Cairn Curran is used by many people in throughout the year, it has a sailing club, angling club and many recreational users and its prime purpose is for irrigation. It has a caravan park by the river, people living around it, boutique accommodation and wineries, landscapes, natural environment and probab...Continue reading

15.01.2022 Council Elections 2020 The Mount Alexander Shire Council is made up of 7 Councillors across 5 Wards. Each Ward representing their diverse communities and each and every one of these communities are unique and different. In 2 of the Wards (Coliban and Calder) the sitting Councillors were re-elected unopposed and they will be automatically elected for the next 4 years. This Council election has been fascinating to watch and I thought I might give some sort of analysis for those...Continue reading

13.01.2022 Waste is an ongoing problem and not very sexy topic in a Council election. Waste and recycling is a core service for local government and it needs to be done right. In a Council elections a number of people will promise a lot of things and a Council kerbside collection will be one of them. It sounds like an attractive alternative but do we want our streets regularly lined with rubbish? People pick up all the good stuff and leaves only landfill. Blowing into parks, gardens and... water ways. Are you prepared to pay up to $1million a year for this? In either a rates increase or more charges. Im not. It costs an absolute fortune to maintain a tip, to cap it and create a new one. We live in a society where we have more waste then ever and a lot of it is plastics. Most of the greenhouse emissions are caused by organic matter. Recycling has no value at the moment. The Prime Minister recently made a commitment for Australia to deal with its own rubbish and not send it overseas and the Victorian government wants a circular economy. The reality is, we produce more rubbish than ever and it has to go somewhere. If re-elected my commitment on waste and recycling is: Promote a waste to energy project. Councils current rubbish collection goes to Echuca and it is being looked at by the company. This would be funded privately. Council has already supported DonKR to look at a waste to energy project and further lobbying is required; A resource and recovery centre in Castlemaine, similar to the one in Bendigo. It is great to repurpose things, maybe fix things instead of throwing it out or finding items that are not available. Council can actually make some money out of it for our community; Free green waste at the Maldon and Castlemaine tips in the lead up to bushfire season and post storms; 2 free hard rubbish disposable vouchers at Maldon or Castlemaine; Support and advocate for local organic (food) collection and composting Community needs to be involved in reducing their impact

08.01.2022 Voteing update Voteing has been going on during the week and most of the votes have been counted. In Tarrengower there has been a total of 1,332 votes counted in Batch A. Batch B will be counted on Monday and there is probably around 400 votes left to count. I received 863 and my opponenent 469 of the 1,332 formal votes counted. ... The VEC will provide formal updates and the link for these I have provided. The figures I have provided will be the update for Tarrengower but Castlemaine and Loddon will also be provided. The outcome from Castlemaine wont be updated until next week as its a bit more complex with preferences and at this stage it is expected that the outcomes will be finliased and declared by Wednesday night for the whole Shire. https://www.vec.vic.gov.au///mount-alexander-shire-council

08.01.2022 COVID19 Recovery Plan COVID19 has been the ultimate disrupter and will continue to affect us for at least the next 12 months and have ongoing impact for a number of years. I know that our community strictly followed the Chief Health Officers advice which resulted in 0 cases for a number of weeks. We are starting to see things spring back to life but there is much more that needs to be done. ...Continue reading

05.01.2022 Maldon Heritage This election will be crucial in how the streetscape and heritage zone develops. The Streetscape is at a critical point going forward and post COVID19 there is and will be a lot of work to make sure this is done right. I am committed and prepared to make this happen. The one thing that binds all of Maldon together is the streetscape and landscape. Local people are very passionate about it and rightly so as is evident from the recent bin debate on the local not...Continue reading

04.01.2022 The Victorian Goldfields Railway has been busy over the lockdown. One of the great initatitives that they have been doing is to relocate the carriage and locomotive shed to Castlemaine. This means that they can ensure ongoing operations are sustianable (reduced costs by half) and that visitors to Maldon can spend more time, instead of haveing to rush around in a couple of hours. They have also been upgrading the track and other facilities. I know the town of Maldon is really looking forward to haveing them back in operation.