THE next Mayoral candidate in our News Of The Area local election coverage is Medowie family man Desmond Maslen.

Des’s family has been a part of the Port Stephens area for a long time, with his father growing up at Bobs Farm, and his Mother’s side of the family hailing from Raymond Terrace, once residing in the two story building near the old Raymond Terrace swimming pool.

Des is married with three children, and one grandchild.

Des told News Of The Area, “I, like most people, had little interest in the day to day running of our local council and only gleaned my opinion of what was being done by the same old ‘what I saw in the paper or heard in the pub’ and ‘did it affect me’ approach.”

“That was until such time as ‘it did affect me’ came into play with a proposed sand mine two doors up the road from my property on Cabbage Tree Road and I attended a council meeting.”

“My god, what an eye opener that was, within ten minutes I had made up my mind that I must do something here,” he said.

Further council meeting attendances reinforced Des’s desire to run for council.

“I must say that I am very pleased to see that the Medowie Progress Association has been able to form into a fantastic conduit for people to get their ideas into council.”

“With this in mind, one of my first initiatives is to investigate where everyone can log into a community web page and have a say on what matters in their area, even a simple yes or no poll on subjects will be of great assistance to the decision making process.”

“Knowledge is the key to success and the larger the number of people informing us of what is important, the better we as a council can deliver what is needed.

Des promises a close involvement with our local state member in gaining a much needed high school in Medowie, and has a desire to see a better police presence here in Medowie.

He also plans to reinstate the live streaming of council meetings as a must.

“We need to be a transparent council, everyone deserves to know exactly what is going on.”

“We need balanced growth in Medowie, increasing numbers of residents must be combined with increased services,” he said.

 

By Rachael VAUGHAN