On the 29th of August, each of the six Lane Cove Labor candidates, in the presence of the Deputy Shadow Leader Michael Daley MP, signed the United Services Union pledge to keep local government jobs local. 

There are six candidates contesting the Lane Cove Council Election across two wards who are also members of the Lane Cove Branch of Labor.

Lane Cove Labor is delighted to welcome NSW Labor Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister for Planning & Infrastructure, Michael Daley MP, to its campaign launch and fundraiser.

The campaign launch will be held on Tuesday, 29th August at “The Terrace Room”, Lane Cove Community Hub, 3 Little Street, Lane Cove. It begins at 7:30pm.

Andrew Zbik, Labor Candidate for West Ward and David Roenfeldt, Labor Candidate for Central Ward, recognise the pain and suffering experienced by public transport users in the local area.

Lane Cove Labor have been running a campaign to improve the bus service in and out of the area.

Lane Cove Labor have organised for NSW Shadow Minister for Transport Jodi McKay to visit the Lane Cove bus interchange on Thursday morning 24th August.

Lane Cove Labor notes that while Premier Gladys Berejiklian may have back-flipped on forced Council mergers, a Liberal-dominated Lane Cove Council could choose to pursue a “voluntary” Council merger. 

Your Candidates for Central Ward: (Left to right): Alex Perna, David Roenfeldt and Bronwyn Deane.

The Labor ticket for Central Ward will be led by David Roenfeldt. David works two jobs as an Environmental Test Engineer and as a Roadside Assistance Mechanic. His professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Engineering) from RMIT.

David in his capacity as Senior Vice President of Lane Cove Labor and has played an integral part in driving several issue based campaigns.  

David explained his motivation for contesting the election was “In an age where the rich are getting richer, and the poorest are floundering I want to be able to make difference in their lives. The financial inequality that exists is simply not fair. I want see working people have a comfortable social circumstance that contribute to them feeling a sense of happiness.”

The second candidate for Central Ward is Bronwyn Deane. Bronwyn’s background includes journalism, teaching and psychology. Bronwyn has most recently worked in the non-for-profit and corporate space facilitating leadership development programs. She is currently raising two young children aged under two.

The third candidate for Central Ward is Alex Perna who also was a candidate for Labor at the 2012 Lane Cove Council Election. Alex has a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and has worked in the fast moving consumer goods industry and more recently a recycling technology business. 

Our vision for Lane Cove has developed as we have worked in the local community.

If you have some ideas that you would like to share with us, please complete our community survey by clicking here.

Proper Community Engagement: We promise to respond.

Many local residents have told us that they are frustrated because a majority of current Councillors don’t respond to emails or phone calls. We have an active online presence via Facebook, Twitter and our website. We have always responded when members of the local community have contacted us. We promise to continue responding to all queries made by local residents.

Public Transport: A Local Advocate for More Public Transport.

Public transport may be a State Government responsibility. However, with a 15% increase in Lane Cove’s population since 2011, our current Liberal dominated Council and State members have been relatively silent on this issue for over three years. Lane Cove Labor organised a local campaign and public forum on this issue in April. It took our efforts to highlight this issue and finally get some action. We will continue to be advocates for a greater allocation of public transport services to Lane Cove.

Keep Public Land in Public Hands

We believe all land owned by Council should remain in public hands. With an increasing population, if we sell public land we will never get it back. We want to keep Council land for the benefit of local residents.

No Voluntary Council Mergers

The State Government may have called off forced Council mergers. However, if we end up with a Liberal dominated Council again, what is stopping them from pursuing a voluntary amalgamation? We will never vote for a voluntary amalgamation with any other Council. 

Keep Lane Cove Green

We will support local bush regeneration and monitoring of storm water inflows into the Lane Cove River. Like the efforts by community groups in the Upper Parramatta River catchment, we would like to investigate what we can do to make the Lane Cove River safe to swim again.

Supporting Local Skills Training

Lane Cove Council can support the skills development of trades and construction. With the decimation of TAFE as we know it, we will seek to ensure any Council project over $500,000 in value will require 10% of the workforce to be apprentices or trainees. This is one small step where we can ensure that trade skills are developed locally.

After Hours School Care

Many Lane Cove residents are double income households. We wish to investigate what role Lane Cove Council can play to support more before and after hours school care facilities for local residents.

Develop an Affordable Housing Plan for Lane Cove

We are committed to developing an affordable housing plan for essential occupations such as teachers, nurses and emergency service personnel in Lane Cove. We will suffer if the people who serve our sick and elderly, or teach our children have to travel long-distances to get to Lane Cove.

We need to expand our Schools

Again this may be a State issue, however, there is no clear plan to expand the capacity of local schools beyond introducing more demountable classrooms. We will campaign to ensure a plan is developed by the State Government to address the growing school aged population in our local schools.

Faster Wi-Fi in Lane Cove Library

Tried to connect to wireless internet in the Library? We know the NBN has fallen short of what it was intended to be. Surely we can work out how to get fa ster Wi-Fi internet in the Library.

Development

As our population grows, the pressures for more development will continue. To date, there has been no connection between new developments and additional services such as public transport, schools and roads. We want to make sure services are planned before any new developments are proposed. Right now, we have a lot of catching up to do.

Improve our parks

Many residents with younger children and pets have told us that they feel our park facilities can be improved. This includes introducing more interesting and varied play equipment for children. Installing more fencing to ensure protection for children from running onto roads and segregated children and pet-friendly areas. Our local public toilet facilities need updating and several parks require rubbish and recycling facilities to be provided. We are committed to a full audit of local park facilities and implementing a plan to upgrade local parks.

Campaign for safer cycling options

The ability of local residents to cycle to the city or cycle to the Lane Cove Plaza can be a real alternative to help tackle local traffic congestion. We are committed to increasing safe cycling facilities and to campaign for the Roads & Maritime Service to complete the ‘missing link’ in the dedicated and segregated cycleway between Cammeray and North Sydney. Although this is outside of the Lane Cove Local Government Area – completing this ‘missing link’ will enable Lane Cove residents to cycle all the way to the Sydney CBD on a safe and segregated cycle way. 

Labor Candidates Andrew Zbik and David Roenfeldt today welcomed the backflip announced yesterday by the NSW Premier that Lane Cove Council will not be forced to merge with Hunters Hill and Ryde Councils.