Denise McHugh believes Tamworth's got a bright future, but the Labor Party candidate for council has a few ideas to make it even better.

Asked to bring an item of significance, the Labor party stalwart of 20 years chose to bring the McKell Award she'd been given by the party.

"The award is given to people that do significant service to the Labor party, so I got it and brought it along because I'm heavily involved and it is significant," she said.

She will stand alongside four other candidates as part of a badged Labor party ticket.

"We're quite proud to have the label Labor," she said.

Ms McHugh is a big believer in traditional Labor values of "a fair go for all", and criticised councillors who stand as independent despite being members of political parties.

Read more:

The NSW Education Standards Authority liaison officer moved to Tamworth in the 1980s, but said the city has rarely had as bright a future.

With COVID-19 driving people out of the big cities, Tamworth is on the precipice of major population growth, which will create jobs and draw even more people to the city, she said.

Ms McHugh said the council needs to invest in infrastructure to make sure it keeps up with population growth.

She said the council is sitting on an enormous financial nest egg at the expense of ratepayers' liveability.

"Today's rates should be for today's ratepayers," she said.

"Tamworth council at the moment has a hell of a lot of money in the bank.

"There's a fine line between being fiscally conservative and building an empire.

"I think that if you're paying rates today, you should be receiving the benefits of those rates in services and infrastructure.

"There's so much money in the bank I can't understand why rates were put up, so much money in the bank I can't understand why our garbage services are being reduced."

Read also:

She vowed to battle cost-shifting by the state government, which she believes to be the "main reason rates go up", and be an advocate for Tamworth hospital staff.

But Tamworth should also do its bit in battling climate change, she said.

The Labor candidate believes the council should require new developments to contain a charging hub in every garage for electric cars, and make plans to convert its fleet to electric when it's financially viable.

Ms McHugh unsuccessfully stood as a Labor candidate for the state election in 2007.

There are a total of 19 candidates vying for a spot on Tamworth Regional Council, including five on the Labor ticket.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: