We will do better, new mayor vows
THE fact young families will not be able to swim at Blackmans Bay Beach this summer has been labelled a tragedy by new Kingborough mayor Dean Winter.
Last month, swimming at the southern end of Blackmans Bay Beach was deemed a public health risk after water in the area received a long-term grading of poor from authorities with swimmers advised to avoid the family summer hotspot.
Kingborough Council is investigating the cause of the issue, but believed it was most likely due to contaminated stormwater.
Cr Winter said the council had let the community down on this critical issue and it was an example of the issues the council needed to handle better.
“There should be no debate that the council has not done well enough on Blackmans Bay stormwater or Kingston Beach stormwater issues,” he said
“The fact that kids won’t be able to swim at Blackmans Bay beach this year is a tragedy for families.
“That’s now my and councillors job to fix.”
Cr Winter was officially sworn in as the new mayor last night along with a new-look council. On Tuesday, he resigned from his position as adviser to Labor Leader Rebecca White saying he wanted to commit to the role of mayor with no distractions.
“Kingborough Council does a lot of things really well but the downfall in the past is it has tried to do too much too quickly and we need to be realistic about what we can achieve,” Cr Winter said. the
“One of the great things about the election is it aligns you to community expectations.”
Cr Winter said he wanted to scrap the long-term financial plan, which would impose another 15 per cent rate increase on residents, and together with the council create a plan that suited the community and how much they could afford to pay.
“There is no appetite from Kingborough residents to see rate rises more than CPI,” he said.
“They have been putting up with this for a decade and it’s a decade too long.”
There should be no debate that the council has not done well enough on Blackmans Bay stormwater or Kingston Beach stormwater issue
— DEAN WINTER jim.alouat@news.com.au