ELECTION day is upon us and the region will soon decide who will lead local government for the next four years.
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The final day of pre-poll voting lit up Peel St, as candidates took their final chance to woo the voters who hold the power for a change.
Experienced campaigners and fresh faces seeking a seat at the council table agreed it was hard to gauge the feeling among the voters.
Fairfax Media published a poll of its own just a over a week ago to find what the region’s biggest issues were going into this year’s council election.
The poll gathered 247 votes from around the New England North West and employment loomed as the biggest issue for residents, with 24.7 per cent of the vote.
Only marginally behind in second spot, probably council’s biggest financial responsibility, roads and infrastructure, with 24.29 per cent.
Council amalgamations may have dominated local government conversations for the last four years, but the Fit for the Future process is a distant memory for voters with only 5.26 per cent registering independence from mergers as their biggest gripe.
Tourism and attracting visitors to town was the lowest ranked issue in Fairfax’s poll, gathering just 3.64 per cent of the vote.
On the hustings, candidates for Tamworth Regional Council were getting mixed messages from the residents.
Current councillor Juanita Wilson said she was getting two strong messages from street.
“Firstly, there’s strong endorsement for the current councillors. And two, there’s the people saying ‘we want some change’,” she said.
First-time candidate, Mitchel Hanlon, said “there is a mood for new ideas” among the voting throng.
Ratepayers’ Association vice-president and fellow first-timer David McKinnon said he was already successful, regardless of the result.
“It’s a great platform for me for further issues,” he said.
Incumbent mayor Col Murray is seeking a fourth-term with TRC and he says this campaign is a step up from previous years.
“It’s been pretty competitive and it’s been a step up in terms of how professional some campaigns have been,” he said.
Deputy mayor Russell Webb agreed there was a different feel to this election and he says social media changed the way the campaign unfolded.
Ray Tait is looking for reelection after missing out in 2012 and he even took the last week off work to hit the pavement.
“About 70 per cent of voters coming through already know what they want. A lot don’t want to take any information,” Mr Tait said. Polls close at 6pm, Saturday.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
