MANLY DAILY 31 AUGUST 2017
Northern Beaches Council
Candidates for a ‘Loose Alliance’
Candidates for a ‘Loose Alliance’
Robbie Patterson, Manly Daily - August 31, 2017
FORMER Pittwater MP and mayor Alex McTaggart says he and his team will be the “cool, calm heads” the merged council needs as it finds its feet.
He has formed a “loose alliance” with fellow Pittwater ward candidate Robert Hopton to take on the major parties.
29/8/17 Alex McTaggart from the Northern beaches alliance at North Narrabeen lagoon. Adam Yip/ Manly Daily
The Northern Beaches Community Alliance is not a registered party but the duo – who have separate tickets – have been providing support, handing out flyers for each other, door knocking and sharing ideas.
“This new council is huge. It has a quarter-of-a-billion- dollar turnover, it is a big business,” he said. “We need cool, calm heads to make this transition and to represent this end of the peninsula.”
Mr McTaggart’s three-person team includes Joss Stewart and Margaret Makin. Ms Stewart is a retired financial planner who helped women take better control of their money. She is known locally for her fundraising efforts.
29/8/17 Robert Hopton from the Northern beaches alliance at North Narrabeen lagoon. Adam Yip/ Manly Daily
Ms Makin is the former president of Bayview Church Point Residents Association and has been involved in several similar organisations.
Their platform includes no buildings above four storeys north of Narrabeen, environmental protection and increasing playing fields.
Mr McTaggart pointed to the 10-50 rule, brought in place after the Blue Mountains bushfires in 2013, as a policy he would push for the state to overturn. It means if you are in a bushfire area, you can remove a tree if it is 50m from an environmental zone or 10m from a house.
Avalon Beach Surf Life Saving Club's Christine Hopton. Picture: Martin Lange
He blamed it for a decline in tree cover, saying people were using it to improve their views.
Mr McTaggart said he would take out a loan if necessary to fund more sports fields in Pittwater.
“We need to have some additional space for playing fields on this end. We need to get into Warriewood Valley,” he said. “It is no good waiting for sec 94 (developer) contributions, that could be another 20 years.”
The alliance has vowed to stand up to the State Government, which Mr McTaggart said was pushing for more development through the Greater Sydney Commission’s draft report.
“We will stand up to the State Government’s ... rampant plans for more density.
They haven’t got a target, it is a projection, so it keeps changing,” he said.
“Instead of 3000 homes in Frenchs Forest all of a sudden it is 6000. How do you plan for that? It is very hard to plan when you have projections and not targets.”
Mr McTaggart said he would take out a loan if necessary to fund more sports fields in Pittwater.
Robert Hopton’s running mates include Tony Blackie and Christine Hopton.
Mr Blackie is a former ABC journalist and has held senior media advisory roles in the Federal Government.
Mrs Hopton has been heavily involved in Avalon Beach Surf Life Saving Club and is an independent director of Surf Life Saving Australia.
Mr Hopton was director of an architectural practice for more than 25 years and has been a project director on billion-dollar complexes for the past five years.
“I have been dealing with large complex projects and the only way you could be successful on something like that is to communicate and consult,” he said.
He likened the council to a board of directors, which is answerable to its shareholders – ratepayers.
“We have a council with a turnover of $800 million, it looks after 270,000 people who generate $13.5 billion per annum to the state coffers,” he said.
“The state’s impact on the northern beaches is immense, with things like the B-Line, hospital works and road widening. There is an enormous number of stakeholders, that is one of my clear platforms, to consult with the community and be a conduit for them to the State Government.”
Mr Hopton said he hoped to install a business hub similar to the former railway site at Eveleigh, which is now known as Australian Technology Park.
He said it would be a technology hub, with start-ups and educational facilities to give more young people a chance to live and work on the northern beaches.