IT’S no surprise that last week Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer has announced that he is running for reelection.

Palmer said it has been a privilege to work on behalf of the Port Stephens community for the past four years and is looking forward to continuing the great projects and progress happening across all three wards.

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His past term hasn’t been without controversy or success.

There was the proposed Special Rate Variation (SRV), which was eventually quashed by the community.

Had the SRV been a success we would have seen an increase in rates for residents and new sporting facilities and other assets built for the community.

Since then the Mayor and his team have had to find funds elsewhere to deliver for the community.

Palmer is a lifelong resident of the region, who states he is passionate about creating better opportunities and outcomes for the community.

He makes no secret of his belief that we need higher density and greater built heights in the town centre of Nelson Bay and other centres.

He believes that the next three years are a critical time for Newcastle Airport and the Williamtown Special Activation Precinct with the planning happening now set to lead to billions of dollars of investment in Port Stephens.

Mayor Palmer said, “These projects are game changers for the region, my focus will be to continue to provide strong advocacy to ensure maximum benefit for the people of Port Stephens is realised.

“We need to have the plans in place that will allow us to keep our young people here and attract the best and brightest talent to the region.”

He plans to deliver the fundamentals alongside the high-profile projects in his second term if elected, with a focus on roads and footpaths to better connect people with town centres.

He and his team have a focus on sporting facilities, parks, playgrounds and town centres, where we prioritise people; delivering exciting new community events, a thriving night time economy and connecting our people; unparalleled support for our vulnerable koalas, native species and beautiful waterways and delivering projects for future generations, partnering with business and delivering world class experiences.

“Council is able to progress some of this work but I will continue to build strong relationships with other levels of government to ensure Council is in the best position to apply for additional funding and grants to further expand the capital works to create the connections our community have told us they want.”

Mayor Palmer went on to say that his current priorities include roads which took a hammering in the March 2021 storms.

“This is not something we can fix overnight,” Mr Palmer said.

“To get roads to where we want them to be is a 15 year cycle – we are rehabilitating roads and dealing with the sins of the past,” he said.

Mayor Palmer admits that roads will need to be something that Council constantly invests in and resealing roads is far more cost effective than rehabilitation of roads that have broken down.

By Marian SAMPSON