Eurobodalla Shire Council Mayor Mathew Hatcher. Photo: Supplied.
The early tally of votes for the 2024 local government elections indicates that Mat Hatcher will serve a second term as mayor of Eurobodalla shire.
The NSW Electoral Commission’s website shows that Mr Hatcher has won 34.23 per cent of first preference votes. That is considerably ahead of Phil Constable’s 18.79 per cent count and Rob Pollock at 16.44 per cent.
Speaking to About Regional two days after the election on Saturday (14 September), Mr Hatcher said his first priority would be bringing the new council together.
He said having a united group of councillors was a constant need for a mayor, even more so after an election in which others were vying for a position.
“So laying that foundation that we are there to serve the community, all nine of us, and the sooner, the better,” he said.
He said he didn’t believe councils that worked in blocs were best for the community. “You end up dividing everything,” he said. “It is important we bring everyone together and work together to provide a better outcome.”
Where the tally currently stands, Mr Hatcher said it looked like there would be five new councillors at least.
“They must understand they are not a councillor for their particular area. They are a councillor for Eurobodalla.”
Mr Hatcher said while he would be working to deliver on the promises his team made during the campaign, “without knowing who the new councillors are I cannot state now what our priorities will be”. Rather, it is a question of “bringing everyone together and collectively deciding our priorities such as rates, our finances, cost-of-living pressures and advocating for more housing from the State Government”, he said.
Eurobodalla councillors 2022-2024: David Grace, Rob Pollock, Anthony Mayne, Amber Shutz, Alison Worthington, Mayor Mathew Hatcher, Pete Diskon, Tubby Harrison, Tanya Dannock. Photo: Eurobodalla Shire Council.
He said one thing he would do differently this term was consulting with the community. “There is always someone who thinks we should do it differently,” Mr Hatcher said.
Also council must own its mistakes like the legal stoush over Congo Road. “So we must constantly look at how we consult and keep that at the forefront and not resting and saying we are doing a good job.”
During the campaign, development proved to be a contentious issue. The eight candidates running for mayor had differing opinions about higher-density development at Batemans Bay, for example. It also provoked considerable comment from About Regional’s readers.
Mr Hatcher said the shire’s residents must understand that approval of developments is process driven. “We don’t have an opinion,” he said. “We create the check boxes and the developers must tick them.”
Nor does the council try to hide anything from the public. It is more a case of not being ready yet to go to the community with a clear vision. Mr Hatcher gave the example of masterplans such as the one currently being developed for Batemans Bay CBD. “You elect people with vision and they go away and work on that. We have to make hard decisions on the vision and for the future of the shire,” he said.
Mr Hatcher is acutely aware of the need to work proactively and quickly to get more housing “but there is so much red tape at the various levels of government. Particularly in the Eurobodalla, where we are so close to the beach and the bush, it takes so long and the costs escalate which the owners bear,” he said. “It is an education thing that it is very much a process-driven model and working proactively to bring our development approval times down.”
For the record, during the election campaign Mr Hatcher outlined his priorities as keeping rates down by running a financially sustainable council, supporting local events which in turn support local businesses, and supporting volunteer groups. He said he would be transparent and consult with the community around the vision for the region and would maintain a “door is always open” approach.
He said by the end of this week the vote counting should be at a stage where “we have an idea of who the councillors are”, although the results would be officially declared on 3 October.
Mr Hatcher said it was great to see the community was really paying attention to the council currently. “Being an incumbent and having such a good turnout is great so there is an expectation to keep the momentum going,” he said. “So, as elected leaders, we quickly need to come together and bring our bases together as well.”
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