RACE FOR PALMO
Former mayor Robert Macleod neck-and-neck with Athina Pascoe-Bell
PALMERSTON voters cast their ballots with generally mixed feelings of apathy and rage at the state of local politics hanging in the air along with the smell of election-day sausage sizzles.
Despite the council’s unprecedented sacking, the resignation of virtually every senior bureaucrat and a bitter war of words between some former aldermen and Local Government Minister Gerry McCarthy, the universal sore point among voters yesterday was a simpler one: paid parking in the city centre.
PJ Fenwick, of Bakewell, said: “How did we end up paying for parking in Palmerston?
“One day we woke up and there’s parking meters there.”
Ms Fenwick said she did not have high expectations for the local council, and only wanted them to get “the little stuff” right.
Public safety was also a concern among voters, with recent spikes in alcohol-fuelled crime, house break-ins and property damage.
Mitchell Creek Green resident Peter Clouting said he wanted the new council to resolve problems in the suburb after the developer ended up under administration.
Leanne Hepburn, of Zuccoli, said: “Development just hasn’t been thought through.”
But many voters had no idea who they would be voting for as they walked the gauntlet of campaign volunteers yesterday, having shown up for no other reason than to avoid the inevitable fine for failing to vote.