About The Hills
I was first elected as a Hills Shire Councillor in September 2008. I love living in The Sydney Hills and have always had a passion for getting involved. Local Government, being the most accessible level of government, was the logical choice as it allows me to be in my community, dealing with the residents, businesses and community groups.
The Sydney Hills is one of the fastest growing local government areas in Australia. The last 30 years has seen enormous change, with the region being transformed from a primarily rural area with an agricultural based economy to Sydney’s top growth area.
We are home to the Norwest Business Park, one of the country’s premier commercial precincts, housing large ASX-listed companies such as Woolworths, Resmed and IBM. We have a challenging yet exciting future ahead of us in accommodating a large proportion of Sydney’s population growth and we’re about to be connected to the rest of Sydney with the North West Rail Link, which will make the Sydney Hills an even more attractive place to live.
A new career
I am a medical researcher by profession, previously working in diabetes and cancer genetics projects at the University of Technology, Sydney. I gave this job up so I could immerse myself in being a full-time Mayor. Working in the laboratory is worlds away from the workings of Local Government, with the mindset being quite different. However, at the end of the day, with both roles, you’re driven by a desire to get better outcomes for people.
Through my medical research I’ve also become passionate about mental health, so I take that into consideration when we’re getting into planning matters in particular. There are direct links between the amount of open, green space in an area and mental health; so no matter how dense some of our town centres become, I want to ensure that there will always be large amounts of this space.
Accommodating growth and maintaining identity
I love the rural parts of the Shire. Often I’ll drive out with my husband to areas like Middle Dural, Glenorie, Maraylya and the surrounds to take in the beauty and vibrancy of the landscape. Our local government area has that perfect mix of suburban and rural living.
We have commercial, industrial and retail hubs providing jobs to residents. But we also have an enormous rural area that is a permanent reminder of how it all began in this corner of Sydney. Many people say the only thing we don’t have in the Sydney Hills is a beach – and even this will be addressed with better access to the city and hence Sydney’s eastern beaches when the North West Rail Link is built. We’re also one of the few councils that are financially strong, so we have greater scope to build a great quality of living for our residence.
Being on the fringe of the city and the country, we strive to maintain our rural identity and character while accommodating growth. I would say this would be a major issue for a lot of councils undergoing urbanisation across NSW. Our population will reach 250,000 by 2036 and the NSW Government is building a rail line through the Sydney Hills over the next six years, so managing these challenges will define the legacy we leave.
Our Council has an overarching policy of “RIC”, which stands for Rejuvenation, Infrastructure and Connectivity. RIC is about accommodating future growth, supporting our growing population with infrastructure, connecting our communities internally and with greater Sydney and renewing our assets. I hope to be the Mayor that presided over the Sydney Hills during a time of great change, but managed to maintain the friendly, safe, family-friendly character of our area.
