By Campbell Spence

Image – See https://ropp.org.au for a higher resolution image

Residents of Port Phillip have advocated on behalf of residents who objected to public toilets being built near a primary school, unnecessary and dangerous bicycle infrastructure, excess Council rates and charges, poor customer service, wasteful spending and pandering to politically aligned vested interests.

Cr Rhonda Clark and Cr Christina Sirakoff who were endorsed by RoPP have served their constituents conscientiously on many Council matters over their four-year term. The graphic pictured above shows how Councillors voted on a few key topics.

Councillors Clark, Sirakoff and Pearl voted consistently against rates rises over the four years. They voted for a rates freeze without cutting services and by finding efficiencies and stopping wasteful spending.

They voted against additional funding for the Eco Centre which is an educational facility for school children because it is not the role of local councils to educate school children. The facility is also a club house for several politically aligned interest groups that lobbied for bicycle infrastructure that was rejected by most residents and traders.

To illustrate how Councillors are influenced by minority groups, most voted for the hugely unpopular pop-up bike lanes in September 2021 only to support their removal in December 2022 after a huge resident backlash.

The Shrine to Sea project was another example of how many Councillors were out of touch with residents. On several occasions, Council sought to remove two lanes of vehicle traffic and replace them with separated bike lanes. The project was supported by vested interest groups linked to the Eco Centre but was rejected by most residents in petitions and via speaking at Council meetings.

If you want Councillors that represent most residents, then you should vote for independent candidates endorsed by the Residents of Port Phillip (pictured below).  For more information visit https://ropp.org.au