Pauline Rowe

PERSONAL DATA:

I currently reside in Bringelly (rural Liverpool LGA) right in the middle of the much touted South West Growth Centre and directly in the path of the 2^nd Airport proposal. I have lived here with my family for 16 years. I previously lived in Casula in the late 70’s where my daughter started her early years. I have also worked in Chipping Norton & Moorebank.

I am a small business owner of a Communication and Technical Consulting Firm – Established Oct 2003 to present. – My business provides contract technical advice to private organisations as well as State and Federal Governments.

I am married to Steve who is a Communications Engineer and we have one daughter Fiona who is a Business Development Manager.

I was born in Sydney in 1956 and up to the age of 7 lived in many areas including Petersham, Balmain, Hurstville, and Riverwood, we finally settled in St Peters for the next 9 years. Prior to moving to Bringelly, and due to work commitments I have resided in many areas over the years including Penrith, Katoomba, Bankstown, Campsie, Casula, Wollongong, Kiama and parts of Queensland.

BUSINESS and EDUCATION:

I attended many primary schools but completed my education at Penshurst Girls High School.

After matriculating I started work in the insurance field in Sydney while undertaking business studies at Sydney University.

During my business life I attended many TAFE and University Courses along with many external study courses. Some of the fields I have studied in are Accounting, Human Resources, Industrial Relations, and Psychology, Occupational Health and Safety, Training, Conflict Resolutions and Computer studies (from programming to trouble shooting.)

Over the next 40 years I worked for many Multi-National Companies in many roles. I started in the finance sector and halfway through my career changed paths to Human Resources and Industrial Relations.

I have worked in many business sectors, ranging from insurance, manufacturing, logistics, retail, hospitality, food processing and the building industry.

 I retired from Corporate Business late 2000 and started a small home business boarding animals.

In 2003 I started our Communication and Technical Consulting Firm which I currently still run.

In 2009 I became actively involved in Community and Council Issues

INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITY GROUPS:

• Member of Rural Residents Rights Incorporated – Over 100 residents fighting against inappropriate developments of Private Cemeteries in the Rural Areas at the cost of agriculture.
• Member of Liverpool Action Group – A great group of people who are responsible for a lot of the cleaning up of Liverpool areas, especially Georges River.
• Member and Secretary of Liverpool Community Independents Team Incorporated (LCIT)

 COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT  (and how I was awakened).

I had lived in Bringelly for over 13 years quite peacefully with no real problem with Council, they picked up our rubbish, they fixed our roads when we complained and they picked up rubbish on the roads (again when informed) maintained our parks and mowed our nature strips every now and then.

Living in a rural area, this is about all the Council actually did for us and most of us are quite content with this. When you move into a rural area, you know that you are not going to get kerb and guttering, street lights, community centres, parks, transport etc., and many of the facilities provided in the suburbs that I had been used to. However, what you do expect is common courtesy and respect as a substantial ratepayer to be kept informed as to what is happening in your area.

Then it all changed…..

In early 2009 I lodged a development application with Liverpool Council to construct a second dwelling on my property for my daughter, something I had been planning for nearly 6 years.

The application was rejected. Upon further investigation I was informed that rural dwelling entitlements which had been in place for nearly 200 years had been removed from the Liverpool Local Environment Plan (LLEP) in Aug 2008 for certain zones.

This LLEP was implemented under a State appointed Administrator not an elected Council. There was no notification to any rural resident that this was going to take place nor was there any visible involvement from the rural sector to this LLEP. This started me on a course of events that has led me to my current position.

After many meetings with residents and Council, I started to realise that all had not been transparent with the implementing of this LLEP and I started to research all aspects of planning from the Local to State and Federal involvement. I discovered that although this LLEP implementation had been in the process since 2005 under State directions, it appeared to be rushed through in August 2008 one month prior to Councillors being elected.

During this time I came into contact with Peter Harle and Nadia Napoletano who attended one of the meetings I had held. Peter and Nadia became very involved with many rural issues and have been successful with implementing many positive changes.

I gained such respect for both of these Councillors that I joined LCIT in 2009 as a member, and due to my business background soon became Secretary and Treasurer for the group. A role I still hold today.

I had never been directly involved in any political group before as I mistrust most political parties who are usually only in it for their own agenda, however, in LCIT I found like-minded people without personal agendas who were there for the people and not the party.

During my time with LCIT I have become involved with many of the issues in Liverpool and have attended all but 3 Council meetings over the past 3 ½  years.

During this time I have noticed that most controversial issues revolve around inadequate planning, whether it is the lack of noise walls at Casula, the travesty that is the Intermodal at Moorebank, the debacle of the Hoxton Park School, Warwick Farm traffic issues, the plethora of Cemetery applications in the rural areas, to mention but a few.

There have also been many individual residents who have been affected by decisions made by Council’s planning decisions and do not know where to turn or what to do, very much like I was. I was fortunate enough to have previous experience in reading complex documents and the temerity to research until I thoroughly understood an issue.

After much deliberation, I have decided to run for Council for much the same reason Peter and Nadia did “to put up or shut up”. For many years I criticised Council for many of its actions and I realise (with the help of Peter and Nadia) that the only way to get things done is to be in there making a contribution.

The old adage “If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem”

I believe I have the necessary skills and experiences to be a valuable addition to Liverpool City Council as a Councillor. Over the past 3 ½ years I have made it my business to understand not just the workings of Council, but the relationship between Local, State and Federal planning and have been actively involved in trying to remedy some of these issues.

Being part of a team such as LCIT we have access to a wealth of Council experience with over 6 members having served on Council over the past 20 years with Colin Harrington as Mayor during his term and Nadia and Peter both serving as Deputy Mayors. We also have many diverse people from CBD, Suburbs and Rural in our group and it gives us a solid overview of what ratepayers really want.

Some of the issues I believe to be at the forefront of requiring immediate attention are definitely:

• Road Maintenance – the state of our roads in all areas are in dire need of repairs and upgrading. Much has been done over the past 4 years thanks to our current Councillor’s; however, a great deal more needs to be done.
• Rubbish removal such as illegal landfill in the rural areas and rubbish dumping in Suburbs and CBD
• Cleanliness of Liverpool CBD and all surrounding areas
•  Structured Planning – There needs to be more community involvement at the local level in planning decisions such as implementing a Local Environment Plan for the future.  More Local Government involvement in State and Federal Planning –

Remember everything that happens within Liverpool affects all of us, in one way or another.

ABOUT ME:

• I am a resident of Liverpool who lives, works, shops and socialises here.
• I have seen first-hand how inadequate planning affects our everyday lives emotionally and financially.
• I have no political agenda; I am not a political careerist and have no intentions of using Council as a platform for State or Federal.
• I am prepared to give 110% to all issues North or South Ward, CBD, Suburbs or Rural if elected, I am not a seat warmer, I am a person of action.

Email: Pauline via this link.