This article can also be found in the Mitcham Community News.
It is a wonderful privilege to be a newly elected member for The Park Ward. During the campaign, it was fantastic to meet so many people across the ward, getting an opportunity to talk about local issues and what you want to see from your council over the next four years – thank you to those who took the time to chat and vote. Mitcham residents are passionate about their local area, once again highlighted by having the highest turnout of any council in metropolitan Adelaide, with Park Ward having the second highest turnout.
The council term started quite literally with a bang, seeing one of the largest storms in the city’s history hit on the day votes were being counted. The impact was substantial, resulting in a massive clean-up effort, disrupting local business, power outages and creating significant expense for both private individuals and council. Fundamentally though, while many of these impacts are short-term, the impact on our tree canopy was substantial and will take decades to recover.
Our tree canopy is a source of significant pride for residents of Mitcham, especially in Park Ward where tree loss was the second most issue I heard about. Storm events like this however, do highlight the downside of trees when they drop branches.
To this extent, Council is auditing every tree that it manages in the areas badly impacted by the storm. So far, Council has audited 9,628 trees across Hawthorndene, Craigburn Farm, Bellevue Heights and with 60% of Blackwood complete. Of these, 430 trees will need additional work. The remaining suburbs of Coromandel Valley, Eden Hills, Belair, Glenalta and Upper Sturt will be done shortly. This loss in tree canopy will also have an impact on our fauna and suburb character. Trees also play a significant role in reducing storm damage by acting as a wind break, highlighting just one reason that it is important to retain as many as possible after this freak storm event.
“Mature trees provide a windbreak to reduce high wind speeds and provide protection for homes and gardens.” ~ Green Adelaide
Finally, we are already down to business with this new Council. At the second meeting, a petition for a public toilet at Suffolk Reserve was presented to Council with some 344 signatures. A special thank you to local residents Seth Tiddy and Trudy from GD Wholesale for being instrumental in getting this petition off the ground. This project received significant support during my door knocking for Council. A bid for the toilet will now form part of the 2023/24 budget considerations.
It is going to be a challenging and interesting four years at Mitcham Council. I look forward to working with my fellow Ward Councillor, Corin McCarthy and the other elected members to improve the services provided by Mitcham Council for residents.
If you need any assistance over the next four years, please feel free to contact me: