Politics & Council
20 May, 2024
2024 council elections: Beattie calls time
NEIL Beattie will bring his 20-year local council career to a close in October. The Boort Ward councillor this week confirmed he would not seek-re-election to Loddon Shire. The three-time mayor was first elected in 2005 and said increased...
NEIL Beattie will bring his 20-year local council career to a close in October.
The Boort Ward councillor this week confirmed he would not seek-re-election to Loddon Shire.
The three-time mayor was first elected in 2005 and said increased bureaucracy had made the function of local government more difficult.
However, fellow veteran councillor and current mayor Gavan Holt said he was undecided on whether to seek a fifth full term. Elected to fill a casual vacancy in 2003, Cr Holt said: “At this stage, I’m still to make up my mind one way or the other.”
And first-term councillor Wendy Murphy said she was also undecided. Cr Murphy was unsuccessful in a tilt for the mayor’s position last November.
Cr Beattie said: “There have been lots of good things done, infrastructure projects we have got across the line.”
“But then there’s the flood levee bank project in Boort that was identified after the 2011 floods. We identifed the problem but 12 or 13 years later we are extremely close but it is still not completed,” he said.
Cr Beattie said he would be leaving council with a strong team headed by CEO Lincoln Fitzgerald and three directors. “Morale in the team is high and everyone is working together,” he said.
First-term councillor Dan Straub (Terrick Ward) said he would be a candidate at the council elections. Cr Linda Jungwirth (Tarnagulla Ward) announced in February that she would seek a second term.