What a day. Stunning weather and a breeze.

I started the day at the Bakehouse in West Beach. In fact I spent a couple of hours with a key resident who brought me up to speed with a dozen different issues across the whole ward. Many I had heard of but some not. The most surprising aspect was how long it had taken to get some things sorted. We aren’t talking a few years – we are talking over ten years for some challenges. So, you could say I heard many things today that surprised me, but nothing that overwhelmed… and as I said to one resident later on, I get the sense that many things don’t succeed or get through in Henley Ward because everyone is aiming for the Taj Mahal.

I’m going to use the elephant analogy – one chunk at a time.

If I have the opportunity to serve my community, it will be a “what can we achieve immediately” to alleviate some concerns while we work on the bigger picture.

Let’s recap the issues heard to date:

1. West Beach Road is a wasteland; unflattering as an entry point to a major sporting and tourist area
2. West Beach Road is sinking and has traffic issues causing safety concerns
3. Life begins at 40; traffic is a safety concern everywhere (too many spots to now list them all)
4. Henley Square shops are closing (although Foodland is busy)
5. Henley square itself unlandscaped and carparks an issue even today (think, summer hasn’t even started)
6. Jetskis are part of life everywhere else but cause issues at this location (why?)
7. Art art art, oh where is the art?
8. And let’s not start yet on the sand dunes, Gulf, Horses, wetlands and inlets as there are some things that even I need to research more to get a better understanding of.

Oh, and I did also hear a lot about water levels – not of the shore variety – table water. Hmmmmm…..

When you consider that this is not such a big area, it really is in a bit of a mess.

My question for residents could really swing around to “What have previous councillors done for you? Did they really represent your views and why has it come to this?”.

Going forward, what would be ONE thing you would want to achieve in the first year of a new Council from the list above?

Have a think.

I’m not saying we wouldn’t achieve more but what would we start with? I’m curious to hear your views. Yes, I know what I would do but I prefer consultation and prefer opting for a majority.

Over to you.