A look at Mayor Ian North’s bid for a 12th term

(Image courtesy of the Bathurst Regional Council)

Bathursts current mayor, Ian North, has confirmed he will be running for council again.

Cr. North has told Bathurst Election Coverage he will be running with an independent ticket, emphasising that it is not affiliated with any political parties.

“None of us are part of any Liberals, Labours, Greens, any of that,” he said, “we’re all independent people.”

He said he is waiting for nominations to officially open in October before announcing the identities of his ticket’s team.

“I was nearly going to put my team out there, who the people are, but then the government decided to change the timing again. So once nominations are open in October, I’ll be doing that”

“I can tell you it’s a mixture of men and women, from a person who is seventy to the youngest being twenty,” he said, “so, it’s a real mix.”

Cr. North spoke about how his previous candidacy campaigns have influenced his decisions this year, “I’ve gone at times by myself and at times as a team, I’m very much about having a broad reflection of people and ideas and that helps in what people are looking for.”

He told Bathurst Election Coverage his ticket isn’t focused on specific policies, only getting people who are passionate about the wellbeing of Bathurst into office.

“I don’t particularly target anything except the continual growth of Bathurst and its people,” he said, “and that’s involved in, I’ve heard people put it this way, the non-sexy things: roads, infrastructure, waste management centres, water.”

He said, “What I’ve always focused on, is being passionate about the community. For the community to grow you’ve got to provide cultural facilities, you’ve got to provide sporting facilities, you’ve got to provide a community that is encouraging businesses not only to come here but current businesses to expand.”

Cr. North said he plans to provide for Bathurst based on feedback from interactions with townsfolk.

“My whole core is about listening to the community, about providing the community with its needs,” he said. “We need better roads, we need to keep working on our water security, we need to make sure our waste management centre is state of the art, whether its sustainable, and if it’s good for the environment.”

He has served in council for an impressive 11 terms in roles such as councillor, deputy mayor, and now the top job itself. He told Bathurst Election Coverage that he’s familiar with the intricacies of agreements and disagreements within council. 

“There’s been a lot of culture out there that I’m supposedly part of this ‘fab five’, and they don’t listen to the other four. I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous in my life,” he said.

The five in question is comprised of Mayor North along with councillors Bobby Bourke, Alex Christian, Warren Aubin, and Graeme Hanger, a group that most famously voted together in support of the go-kart track at Mount Panorama.

“Everyone’s going to have different beliefs and what you have got to do in a demographic society,” said Mr North. “People can voice their opinion without fear or favour or worrying about it, they can fuel what they’re passionate about and put their point of view across,” he said.

He continued, reiterating the need for passion in council, “ I want nine councillors, whatever the makeup of that is and it would be great when the big items are up there that we agree, and when we don’t it’s great that councillors voice their opinion. It’s got to be someone passionate about community and coming in with an open mind.”

Cr. North highlighted a number of things the current council has done, or continues to do, that he said helps grow Bathurst.

“My main focus at the moment is the integrated medical centre. Unashamedly I think it’s one of the best things I’ve seen for a very, very long time in Bathurst, and I think the position of it is perfect,” he said.

“We’ve got a more secure water supply. A lot of people still don’t realise that our water supply we are still in discussions and battling on the state government for our water harvesting projects. And to make sure that those two main things, combined with the infrastructure on our roads, must have a very high priority. You can’t grow, unless you grow the facilities that you need.”

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