Business owner to run for HCC spot

A HOBART business owner who fought against a parking price hike last year will run for council.

Edwin Johnstone said there were too many people on council who were partyaligned.

“I’ve decided to run because I thought Hobart needed some fresh voices and people on the council who have no affiliations to political parties,” said Mr Johnstone (inset).

“Of the current council members, nine out of the 12 have previously run for state politics under a party banner.

“Party politics should be kept out of the local level.

“All council members should view issues with an independent mindset.”

He said there was too much conflict among council members.

“I want the new council to have a less combative approach – there’s probably too much infighting between current members,” Mr Johnstone said. “Because of current members’ party allegiances, they’re being overly adversarial with each other.”

Last year Mr Johnstone was one of the vocal business owners who fought against a hike in parking rates, when the council increased the price in most parts of the CBD from $3.50 an hour to $5 an hour.

“I fought hard against the council to rein in prices and launched a petition with nearly 4000 signatures, and that made the council listen,” he said.

“The maximum on-street parking price this year has not been raised, so they have listened. But parking is only one issue, and there are a lot of other issues that need to be addressed.”

Mr Johnstone said he would also like to see a city bus loop service, which included Salamanca.