Prudence Scholtes, candidate for Bunurong Ward. 1. Where do you live?
I live in the new Powlett Ridge East in Wonthaggi.
2. How long have you lived in Bass Coast?
Two years but have been visiting my step children here regularly for 5 years prior to this.
3. What is your previous community involvement (voluntary work or membership), either in Bass Coast or another area?
I have been a member of the Active Adults Inverloch group and the Broadbeach Gym since we arrived in the Shire. We rented in Inverloch before we bought in Wonthaggi. My most significant involvement has been as an elected member of the Save Wonthaggi North East Residents Executive Committee. This group was established to fight the retrospective Environmental Audit Overlay placed on the new precinct in Wonthaggi.
I live in the new Powlett Ridge East in Wonthaggi.
2. How long have you lived in Bass Coast?
Two years but have been visiting my step children here regularly for 5 years prior to this.
3. What is your previous community involvement (voluntary work or membership), either in Bass Coast or another area?
I have been a member of the Active Adults Inverloch group and the Broadbeach Gym since we arrived in the Shire. We rented in Inverloch before we bought in Wonthaggi. My most significant involvement has been as an elected member of the Save Wonthaggi North East Residents Executive Committee. This group was established to fight the retrospective Environmental Audit Overlay placed on the new precinct in Wonthaggi.
I put my hand up to volunteer for this group because the more I researched and the more time it took to figure out what in the world had happened and why I knew it needed someone who had the time to delve through mountains of planning documents, Council meeting minutes, legislation, EPA documents. It was a minefield of trying to figure out who, why, what, when in order to fight this injustice. I knew that most of the residents effected were mostly young and working fulltime or multiple jobs to meet their increasing mortgage requirements. Did they have the time or the experience to sort this mess out? I suspected not, but I knew I did. I could not sit back and let the devastating financial impact that would have occurred had we not fought back with such vigour happen. I could not sit back and see this community that I had moved to, one that was a designated growth area for the Victorian Government, retreat to an area that people had no confidence to move to. Slowing of sales and building, meant promised infrastructure to support the community – community centres, child care (and the whole of Bass Coast is in dire need of childcare centres!), playgrounds, shops, community centres, youth engagement groups, would be even further away from realisation. Those that had already invested and moved into the area would be left unsupported. Waiting until there is a big enough population for these things only leads to disenfranchised communities, a lack of community spirit and cohesion. I was stunned that no one who lived here had been notified by Council as to the situation and even more shocked by the lack of communication as the process went on. Working to get the EAO removed and costs not passed onto owners consumed more time than I ever imagined it would. Offering support to those who were affected was an honour and helped me to get to know so many people in an area that has yet to develop its community cohesiveness.
4. What experience or attributes do you bring that will help you in the role of shire councillor?
I have three areas of life and professional experience that I can bring to the table. The experience representing the residents of North East Wonthaggi taught me a lot about how the State Government and Council interact in areas of planning and the complexity of restrictions placed of government bodies such as the Environmental Planning Authority and the Victorian Planning Authority over Council and local residents preferred outcomes. I also learnt a lot about how the State Governments new Local Government Act in 2020 has changed Councils Governance rules and how they interact with their constituents. My research and experience also led me to believe that there is room for interpretation and wriggle room from this new legislation to allow for better communication than what is currently being implemented by the Council. Feedback from residents and those I meet regularly in Inverloch and Cape Paterson is that they just want to clearer and more frequent communication as to what decisions are being made and most importantly why – why this decision and not focusing on another important area?
Not everyone can get want they want – but frequent and transparent communication is the key for any relationship. Local Council is the closet and most intimate form of the average person taking part in the decision making process of their immediate neighbourhood. When we start limiting how people can interact with Council, whether it be by reducing the opening hours people can rock up to the Shire offices to pay their rates or pet registration, reduce the time frame people can see the agenda for meetings or put in a question for Councillors, when we limit the space available for locals to turn up to Council meetings, when we gag Councillors from responding to representative committee emails and letters begging for help (like we did with the EAO catastrophe), when we rely only on social media and random Council website updates – we alienate so many in our community from actually connecting with each other and Council. We are a community that is broad and diverse – we have a growing younger generation, who are working in our hospitals, schools, aged care, hospitality starting their families who don’t have time to be stalking social media to find out what’s going on – they are just trying to do the best by their families and pay the mortgage. We also have a growing aging population. Most of my friends here are in the 70 plus age group. Probably ¾’s don’t follow social media. Despite the growing reliance on technology, we are not a community they can rely on social media to inform people on what is being decided, what is happening and why. To me this lack of communication strategy is dividing the community and making it angrier than it possibly needs to be. Cost effective – possibly, community cohesion and improving community culture, I don’t think so. Basic example – saving money on printing the weekly bin collection schedule. Surely we can find some other way to save money rather than not printing something that is beneficial to all households? Too many of our residents do not engage in social media, or computers – it’s the nature of demographics. You would save a lot of Council staff time answering phone calls if you read the demographics of your population and broadened the means by which you communicated. Equal opportunities to face to face, phone, email and social media would make such a difference to communication and I believe reduce the anger and frustration that I am listening to in person and reading on social media.
How do I know this? I have studied journalism, education, biography writing and careers development. I have taught from Prep to Year 12 and worked in public relations. I have learnt to assess my audience and respond to their communication needs – and it’s certainly not always the quickest and cheapest option. I have learnt to respect that and provide for that and I will always fight to make sure that communication is accessible to all. Working in education you are dealing constantly all day with competing needs and communication styles and life influences that need you to respond individually. It’s intense, you never have the time to do what you feel you need to do. But you keep trying and you keep working and you listen and respond the best you can. I think you should expect nothing less from your local Councillors.
5. Have you stood for election before in local, state or federal government?
No
6. Do you belong to a political party?
No
7. Are you directing preferences?
No. I just ask that you consider a couple of things. 1) Does what the person you are voting for align with your values? 2) Whilst being a Councillor is a part time position what are their other commitments? Do you think they have the time to dedicate to the amount of complex reading and meetings (especially planning documents), the big picture budget implications (if we commit to this? Will it reduce funding available to something else that is important to me?) 3. Do they have time to attend local events and would I want them to attend? 4) If they are already elected have they been meeting all of the above and your need to be informed of Council activities and decisions? How do you rate their communication skills so far? 5) Will their formal political allegiances past or present prevent them from assessing and voting in a way that is best suited and unique to our local community?
8. Name up to five local issues that you consider most important and explain how you believe the council should tackle them.
Issue 1: Communication. Having worked in this field and experiencing the communication
issues with Council regarding the Environmental Audit Overlay debacle in Wonthaggi,
watching social media and listening to various groups in Bunurong, I believe so much of the
angst currently circulating could be improved by increasing communication strategies and
frequency. This is not the budget area to cut costs. Printed documents continue to have their
place and meet the needs of our aging community, many of whom do not follow social
media. Simple things like posting out the yearly bin schedule rather than expecting people to
go on line or ask for a copy make a difference to how people feel their Council is engaging
with them. How would they know it has even been published if they don’t have social media
or use computers to check the website? I believe Governance regulations on how Council
and Councillors communicate with residents needs to be revised. Limitations on Councillors’
communication with constituents on issues of importance to the community needs to
loosened up. Another example would the app Snap, Send Resolve – it is so efficient, yet our
Council prefers us to ring and report issues – increasing staff and residents time.
Issue 2: Big picture planning. How can you plan to increase the population when we aren’t even meeting the needs of things such as childcare for the current population? Saying there is a short fall of childcare workers is a cop out. There are plenty of innovative things the Shire could do to attract childcare workers here. $50k diverted from some other vague aspiration report or investigation is $10k incentive for 5 childcare or even needed aged care workers to move from outer Melbourne to here. We can build a bigger hospital, create a great big plan for increased tourism to the Island or Inverloch etc. but the workers for these things– our nurses, teachers, aged care workers, tourism workers need childcare. We need more Council run childcare centres (and worst resort advocating for private providers that we are growing and they should come back and invest here) so our Mums can go back to work and our youngsters can have quality early childcare before kindergarten. And we needed them 5 years ago. Time to show Victoria that we are the innovative and best place to live by making sure they have what they need when they move here!
Issue 3: Footpaths and potholes and public safety. We have such diverse communities – most are growing with permanent residents. I do not want to see one more person with a disability, mobility issues or mothers with prams forced to walk on the roads to visit their friends or catch a bus or get to the local shop. This is dangerous. The latest ‘Community assets and public space’ survey asked questions about should we increase or decrease maintenance on public footpaths. It ignored the fundamental question that everyone I speak to wants – we need our footpath network expanded in every community. Personally I do not want to see my grandchildren learning to ride their trikes on a road one more time. Their roads in Cape are getting busier, they have buses down their roads. It fills me with dread each time I seem them ambling along the road with cars rounding the corner at breakneck speed. A detailed survey of all roads without footpaths is urgently needed to plan for the future.
Issue 4: Community Services: We need greater emphasis of time, resources, innovative problem solving and planning for community development services especially child and family services, aged care, and youth engagement. There is no better way to ensure the future of our community than providing for the engagement of our young people in a variety of ways – not just surf clubs or sporting clubs. Providing a sense of community and connectedness to their community hopefully will result in less youth crime, which is effecting the sense of security of us all.
Issue 5: Financial responsibility: We must prioritise maximum return on our investments and be sure our debts are at the lowest interest rate. Ratepayers’ money deserve maximum return to avoid or reduce further rate hikes. We must avoid unnecessary spending on activities with vague or unmeasurable outcomes or objectives. I will advocate that cost savings are not at the increased expense of those using our public community facilities. Every decision we make that costs money needs to looked at not in isolation. ‘If we spend this much money on this – what will reductions or lack of services would result in other vital areas?’
9. Name the one thing you would most like to achieve if you are elected a Bass Coast Shire councillor.
Balance: Balance of time and consideration between all communities. Balance of considerations that affect people and community. Balance of communication strategies between what is the cheapest and what meets the needs of the demographics we have in our Shire. Balance between cost cutting and future dream aspirations – e.g. Friends of the Inverloch Library should not have to host their activities that support the local Council run library outside the library because they can’t afford to pay for the use of the kitchen to make cups of tea. Where else we could we have made a saving? Balance of funding allocation between what is needed to serve our current residents now and in the future. Balance of providing Arts facilities that are both centrally located to the whole Shire, easily accessible to the majority of full time residents (mostly elderly) at night, on roads where they aren’t scared of hitting animals to get there and back) and the desire to have the most environmentally friendly building in the State. Balance of political ideologies and what the locals actually need. Balance of effort and time dedicated to protecting our local environment with the needs of the humans living here now and in the future. Balance back to the basics of what Council is meant to provide with any time, effort and money spent advocating for funding and issues that are primarily State and Federal government issues.
4. What experience or attributes do you bring that will help you in the role of shire councillor?
I have three areas of life and professional experience that I can bring to the table. The experience representing the residents of North East Wonthaggi taught me a lot about how the State Government and Council interact in areas of planning and the complexity of restrictions placed of government bodies such as the Environmental Planning Authority and the Victorian Planning Authority over Council and local residents preferred outcomes. I also learnt a lot about how the State Governments new Local Government Act in 2020 has changed Councils Governance rules and how they interact with their constituents. My research and experience also led me to believe that there is room for interpretation and wriggle room from this new legislation to allow for better communication than what is currently being implemented by the Council. Feedback from residents and those I meet regularly in Inverloch and Cape Paterson is that they just want to clearer and more frequent communication as to what decisions are being made and most importantly why – why this decision and not focusing on another important area?
Not everyone can get want they want – but frequent and transparent communication is the key for any relationship. Local Council is the closet and most intimate form of the average person taking part in the decision making process of their immediate neighbourhood. When we start limiting how people can interact with Council, whether it be by reducing the opening hours people can rock up to the Shire offices to pay their rates or pet registration, reduce the time frame people can see the agenda for meetings or put in a question for Councillors, when we limit the space available for locals to turn up to Council meetings, when we gag Councillors from responding to representative committee emails and letters begging for help (like we did with the EAO catastrophe), when we rely only on social media and random Council website updates – we alienate so many in our community from actually connecting with each other and Council. We are a community that is broad and diverse – we have a growing younger generation, who are working in our hospitals, schools, aged care, hospitality starting their families who don’t have time to be stalking social media to find out what’s going on – they are just trying to do the best by their families and pay the mortgage. We also have a growing aging population. Most of my friends here are in the 70 plus age group. Probably ¾’s don’t follow social media. Despite the growing reliance on technology, we are not a community they can rely on social media to inform people on what is being decided, what is happening and why. To me this lack of communication strategy is dividing the community and making it angrier than it possibly needs to be. Cost effective – possibly, community cohesion and improving community culture, I don’t think so. Basic example – saving money on printing the weekly bin collection schedule. Surely we can find some other way to save money rather than not printing something that is beneficial to all households? Too many of our residents do not engage in social media, or computers – it’s the nature of demographics. You would save a lot of Council staff time answering phone calls if you read the demographics of your population and broadened the means by which you communicated. Equal opportunities to face to face, phone, email and social media would make such a difference to communication and I believe reduce the anger and frustration that I am listening to in person and reading on social media.
How do I know this? I have studied journalism, education, biography writing and careers development. I have taught from Prep to Year 12 and worked in public relations. I have learnt to assess my audience and respond to their communication needs – and it’s certainly not always the quickest and cheapest option. I have learnt to respect that and provide for that and I will always fight to make sure that communication is accessible to all. Working in education you are dealing constantly all day with competing needs and communication styles and life influences that need you to respond individually. It’s intense, you never have the time to do what you feel you need to do. But you keep trying and you keep working and you listen and respond the best you can. I think you should expect nothing less from your local Councillors.
5. Have you stood for election before in local, state or federal government?
No
6. Do you belong to a political party?
No
7. Are you directing preferences?
No. I just ask that you consider a couple of things. 1) Does what the person you are voting for align with your values? 2) Whilst being a Councillor is a part time position what are their other commitments? Do you think they have the time to dedicate to the amount of complex reading and meetings (especially planning documents), the big picture budget implications (if we commit to this? Will it reduce funding available to something else that is important to me?) 3. Do they have time to attend local events and would I want them to attend? 4) If they are already elected have they been meeting all of the above and your need to be informed of Council activities and decisions? How do you rate their communication skills so far? 5) Will their formal political allegiances past or present prevent them from assessing and voting in a way that is best suited and unique to our local community?
8. Name up to five local issues that you consider most important and explain how you believe the council should tackle them.
Issue 1: Communication. Having worked in this field and experiencing the communication
issues with Council regarding the Environmental Audit Overlay debacle in Wonthaggi,
watching social media and listening to various groups in Bunurong, I believe so much of the
angst currently circulating could be improved by increasing communication strategies and
frequency. This is not the budget area to cut costs. Printed documents continue to have their
place and meet the needs of our aging community, many of whom do not follow social
media. Simple things like posting out the yearly bin schedule rather than expecting people to
go on line or ask for a copy make a difference to how people feel their Council is engaging
with them. How would they know it has even been published if they don’t have social media
or use computers to check the website? I believe Governance regulations on how Council
and Councillors communicate with residents needs to be revised. Limitations on Councillors’
communication with constituents on issues of importance to the community needs to
loosened up. Another example would the app Snap, Send Resolve – it is so efficient, yet our
Council prefers us to ring and report issues – increasing staff and residents time.
Issue 2: Big picture planning. How can you plan to increase the population when we aren’t even meeting the needs of things such as childcare for the current population? Saying there is a short fall of childcare workers is a cop out. There are plenty of innovative things the Shire could do to attract childcare workers here. $50k diverted from some other vague aspiration report or investigation is $10k incentive for 5 childcare or even needed aged care workers to move from outer Melbourne to here. We can build a bigger hospital, create a great big plan for increased tourism to the Island or Inverloch etc. but the workers for these things– our nurses, teachers, aged care workers, tourism workers need childcare. We need more Council run childcare centres (and worst resort advocating for private providers that we are growing and they should come back and invest here) so our Mums can go back to work and our youngsters can have quality early childcare before kindergarten. And we needed them 5 years ago. Time to show Victoria that we are the innovative and best place to live by making sure they have what they need when they move here!
Issue 3: Footpaths and potholes and public safety. We have such diverse communities – most are growing with permanent residents. I do not want to see one more person with a disability, mobility issues or mothers with prams forced to walk on the roads to visit their friends or catch a bus or get to the local shop. This is dangerous. The latest ‘Community assets and public space’ survey asked questions about should we increase or decrease maintenance on public footpaths. It ignored the fundamental question that everyone I speak to wants – we need our footpath network expanded in every community. Personally I do not want to see my grandchildren learning to ride their trikes on a road one more time. Their roads in Cape are getting busier, they have buses down their roads. It fills me with dread each time I seem them ambling along the road with cars rounding the corner at breakneck speed. A detailed survey of all roads without footpaths is urgently needed to plan for the future.
Issue 4: Community Services: We need greater emphasis of time, resources, innovative problem solving and planning for community development services especially child and family services, aged care, and youth engagement. There is no better way to ensure the future of our community than providing for the engagement of our young people in a variety of ways – not just surf clubs or sporting clubs. Providing a sense of community and connectedness to their community hopefully will result in less youth crime, which is effecting the sense of security of us all.
Issue 5: Financial responsibility: We must prioritise maximum return on our investments and be sure our debts are at the lowest interest rate. Ratepayers’ money deserve maximum return to avoid or reduce further rate hikes. We must avoid unnecessary spending on activities with vague or unmeasurable outcomes or objectives. I will advocate that cost savings are not at the increased expense of those using our public community facilities. Every decision we make that costs money needs to looked at not in isolation. ‘If we spend this much money on this – what will reductions or lack of services would result in other vital areas?’
9. Name the one thing you would most like to achieve if you are elected a Bass Coast Shire councillor.
Balance: Balance of time and consideration between all communities. Balance of considerations that affect people and community. Balance of communication strategies between what is the cheapest and what meets the needs of the demographics we have in our Shire. Balance between cost cutting and future dream aspirations – e.g. Friends of the Inverloch Library should not have to host their activities that support the local Council run library outside the library because they can’t afford to pay for the use of the kitchen to make cups of tea. Where else we could we have made a saving? Balance of funding allocation between what is needed to serve our current residents now and in the future. Balance of providing Arts facilities that are both centrally located to the whole Shire, easily accessible to the majority of full time residents (mostly elderly) at night, on roads where they aren’t scared of hitting animals to get there and back) and the desire to have the most environmentally friendly building in the State. Balance of political ideologies and what the locals actually need. Balance of effort and time dedicated to protecting our local environment with the needs of the humans living here now and in the future. Balance back to the basics of what Council is meant to provide with any time, effort and money spent advocating for funding and issues that are primarily State and Federal government issues.