Councillor has eye on future

Newly elected Shire of Denmark councillor Clem Wright is confident that a fresh council will bring positive change for the town after an extended period of instability.

Cr Wright was sworn in along with Janine Phillips at the Shire meeting on Tuesday, to replace outgoing councillors Kelli Gillies and Roger Seeney who resigned in August.

The Shire council has now seen four new councillors brought in this year, along with new chief executive Bill Parker.

All five changes came from early resignations, with outgoing councillors indicating frustrations with council dysfunction.

Cr Wright said it was a time of change for the Shire.

“What we’re seeing is a changing of the guard — I see it as an opportunity to do things differently, I think it’s a chance for a bit of renewal and reinvigoration,” he said.

“I campaigned for open and accountable local government because I don’t think we’ve had a lot of that in recent years.”

Poor mobile phone reception and power outages in the Kent/Nornalup ward were also of concern to Cr Wright.

“I really want to encourage the council to be more assertive in lobbying Federal and State governments to actually address those issues,” he said

“And really just making sure that the council doesn’t just focus on the town and the eastern side of the Shire and that they also focus on the western end.”

Cr Phillips, who runs a family business in Peaceful Bay, said she would provide business experience.

“I’m hoping to bring my business skills and stability to the council; I want to open up the western end of the Denmark Shire,” she said

“I’m all in favour of opening up Tindale and Nornalup Road. I think by doing that you’ll open it up to tourism; you’ll open it up for access to markets for farming, agriculture and fishing.

“It’s about economic stability in the Shire because there’s no future for the Shire if we don’t provide jobs and economic stability for young people.”