Making Dungog strong again

August 24 2017 - 12:30am
Wayne Streat has held senior management positions with major Australian companies   and is a former president of the Western Sydney Business Chamber.
Wayne Streat has held senior management positions with major Australian companies and is a former president of the Western Sydney Business Chamber.

Wayne Streat:

Independent Candidate for Ward A election, being held September 9, 2017.

Relationship to region

  • My grandfather's great-grandparents migrated from ireland and settled in dungog in 1843.
  • Dungog is my home and that of my family.
  • I have 8 children (7 living) and 9 grandchildren, all of whom absolutely love our farm and Dungog, as I do.

My businesses

  • I have a beef cattle property at Stroud Hill
  • I am developing eco tourism accomodation and facilities on my property at Stroud Hill
  • I am in the process of selling my logistics business (that I pioneered in 1991), based in Sydney
  • I consult for a number of businesses on business management matters

Reason for standing

  • I have been asked to stand by members of the community as they see my business and innovative skills as being a great asset to the management of Dungog council at this critical time in its history.
  • As a resident, local businessman and farmer, I feel that I could add strong support to other councillors and the people who live in our region.
  • I would like to help manage and shape the future of our region.

Qualification for standing

  • I have held senior management positions with companies such as Ipec, Coles and Ansett Freight Express. In each of those jobs, I achieved substantial success in rearranging the business and made each business in my care profitable, sometimes for the first time ever.
  • I was the president of the NSW Business Chamber (previously known as the chamber of manufacturers) for Western Sydney and state councillor during the time of mergers and partnering with many chambers of commerce.

If you elect me

  1. I have had discussions across the community to understand the current situation and believe that the most important challenge is to make Dungog strong again
  2. While Dungog council has a large infrastructure backlog, which is the first challenge to address, I am very pleased with the keeping of the councils financial affairs.  Dungog council has substantial  money in the bank and very low debt. On top of this it has the lowest council rates in the region.
  3. Yes it would be nice to see roads with more bitumen than patches but we have to pay for it. To achieve improvements, rates will have to be adjusted. This is inevitable, no matter whether we choose to amalgamate or remain independent. We can (& will) lobby government for funding, and take every other opportunity available to rectify the backlog once and for all.
  4. The council is giving you the opportunity to decide whether we should stay independent or join with another council. Whilst I have personal views on this, I believe that it is your choice. I will fight to ensure that your decision is what transpires. Should you decide that you wish to merge, as difficult as it may be, I will fight to ensure that it is done properly and carefully, making sure that our assets, facilities, rights and services aren’t reduced or taken from us, and that our rates do not rise substantially.
  5. As a businessman, I believe that we need progress as an agricultural and rural area. Therefore tourism, development, agribusiness and farming must be encouraged by council and wherever possible facilitated.  The many hard-working and very talented people in the district need to be encouraged
  6. I hope to work in a good team of councillors, qualified in the right areas, to rectify years of under-performance

Thanks for reading this and, hopefully, you will give me the opportunity to work for you.

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