Fleur Flanery (middle) – Photo credit, Camilla Duffy.

I’m Fleur Flanery and I’m standing for the Yass Valley Council in the Local Government elections. I’ve always been an active contributor to the community and have the experience, ability, courage and stamina to be a strong and challenging voice for business and the community.

I grew up on a farm near Galong and have lived with my husband and children in Yass for the past 32 years. I have two degrees, one in Landscape Architecture and the other in Communications and Public Relations. I am currently the Director of a small business located near Yass that organises events and international tours.

Prior to running my own business, I held Executive level positions in the ACT Government as the Executive Director Planning Policy, Director, Place Management and Senior Manager Urban Treescapes. In these roles I was responsible for Strategic Planning including developing masterplans and scoping the review into the Territory Plan.

I managed over 400 full time employees who mowed the grass in the parks and sporting fields, cleaned shopping centres, carried out safety checks for over 500 play- grounds, managed and maintained over 1,000,000 trees in the urban estate and introduced legislation to improve use of open space.

I was a member of the ACT Procurement Board providing advice on large and often complex procurement matters and the Registrar of Domestic Animals and the Animal Welfare Authority.

My record in developing and delivering positive outcomes for the places I’ve worked and community stems from my ability to understand, plan, make connections that pro- vide multiple benefits for people and the community.

For example, I’m Vice Chair of the March- mont Trust Racecourse Reserve and together with the Trustees, we have successfully applied for and received ap- proximately $950,000 in grants which has been used to remove tyres and other waste material to clean up the site, remove dead and dying trees, develop a concept and business plan for its future use to ultimately create multipurpose facilities that, in time, can be used throughout the year rather than just for one annual race meeting as is currently the case.

This funding has been spent directly in the Yass region, on contractors and suppliers, who then circulate the money in the region. Bringing in investment is an essential build- ing block for the future of our local economy. Creating a sustainable funding model for the Reserve is also essential to its future. Throughout my working life I have a credible record in improving the delivery of Council services and aligning it with community expectations. This is particularly relevant when hearing from community groups such as those in Yass, Binalong, Bowning, Murrumbateman, Gundaroo and Sutton who

manage public assets such as ovals, toilets and other infrastructure on behalf of the Council. I’ve also heard that contributions from some of these groups has more recently gone unnoticed.

It seems the existing Council has forgotten a fundamental part of having strong communities is contribution and this should be valued and supported. I’ve also heard comments about issues with staff retention in Council. These are areas I hope to positively influence to ensure what Council says will be done, is done, is done well and the ‘them and us’ division is reduced.

My husband and I live on a farm on the edge of Yass and last year had 68 of our sheep either killed or mauled by domestic dogs who had been left roam during the day while their owners were at work. I successfully campaigned about this horrendous attack by letting people in the community about it and providing descriptions of the dogs. We were eventually able to locate the dogs and were able to alert the owners. It didn’t take the horror of the situation, but I didn’t sit by waiting for more attacks to happen.

As I’ve stated in the ‘Meet the Candidate’ meetings; my behaviour follows my beliefs and, in this respect, its ways family first and then the landscape and environment. I was a former Chair of Yass Landcare and am now part of the Yass Gorge group. Last year I successfully applied for and received a grant to remove woody weeds from locations around the gorge. My husband and I have been actively continued to manage the regrowth of the environmental weeds in this area and are undertaking measures to contain them. We’ve also embarked on a re-planting program contributing our own time and finances to improve the biodiversity of the area.

Some of you may have seen me running around Yass, as I do most days of the week. These morning and/or afternoon runs give me time to connect with all kinds of people and groups who live here. It also gives me firsthand experience in seeing where im- provements can be made.

I’ve never been one to sit on the sidelines and let things pass by. I’m an active contributor and will provide a strong voice for your concerns.
I’d value your support in this local election by voting one Fleur Flanery
Thank you.

This editorial piece is being paid for as part of an advertising package offered to all candidates.