The key to achieving progress for Campbelltown is everyone working together, says greens councillor and current deputy mayor Jayden Rivera.
“We have shown that we are cohesive council to do good things for Campbelltown,’’ he says during a recent interview with the South West Voice.
Cr Rivera’s one year term as deputy mayor ends next Tuesday, September 1, when council holds elections for both mayor and deputy.
He says one of the things he was most pleased about since getting elected to council has been bringing the community in to make a contribution via a public forum and the establishment of advisory committees – and he wants to see a lot more of both in the next little while.
“Been on council has been different, but about what I expected, mainly,’’ he says.
“It can get a little bit frustrating sometimes, but I guess that’s life.
“Generally, I’ve enjoyed it, especially now that we’re starting to do a lot more things for the community.
“I thought the first public forum we had was good, and I am looking forward to the next one in November when we will try to make it even more community focused,’’ says Cr Rivera.
He says another positive move this year was the establishment of the Fisher’s Ghost Festival advisory committee.
“It allowed the community to come in and have a say about what they wanted the festival to look like,’’ he says.
“That’s a really good thing, and I would like that to continue; and more of these advisory committees would also be good in helping council make better decisions.
“An environment advisory committee, for example, would give an opportunity to advocates, who could be very knowledgeable, say, well this isn’t working, and this is what we think.
“That’s something I’m pushing for. In fact, for me, by listening to the community is where a lot of my notices of motions come from.’’
Like everyone else, Cr Rivera says the slow pace of progress is one of the frustrating things for him.
“My biggest focus before I was elected was around koalas, and more protection for koalas, and I think I’ve achieved a little bit of that.
“But we are still waiting on the koala strikes mitigation program, and I continue to push on that, including with a notice of motion asking about the progress of the report, and a response from the CEO.’’
On Appin Road, which has needed an upgrade for decades to reduce the risk factors for both humans and koalas, Cr Rivera says: “We’re getting some improvements but it’s taking a lot longer than needs to.
“We still get koala strikes, and happening more than normal. Last week we had the death of three koalas on Appin Road near Mallaty Creek (the key east west corridor for the local koala colony between the Georges River and the Nepean River).’’
Cr Rivera confirmed he will be flying the Greens flag next March at the state election and be a candidate in the seat of Campbelltown.
He said one of his campaign themes will be to highlight the need for a lot more affordable housing in any new developments in Campbelltown, greenfield or otherwise.
“If developers want to build all this stuff, fair enough, but the target for affordable housing should be 20, maybe even 25 percent,’’ he says.
