Focus on bold plans
A FORMER international journalist has entered the 2020 Toowoomba Regional Council election race.
Rebecca Vonhoff, a former deputy editor of The Chronicle, online editor at The Courier-Mail and foreign editor at Canada’s national newspaper The Globe and Mail, will run for one of 10 councillor positions.
The Toowoomba-born mother-of-three said she wanted to see the region embrace bold long-term plans to combat its toughest issues.
“I think that the time is right because Toowoomba is at a juncture and we have so many opportunities, so we need to capture the moment,” Dr Vonhoff said.
“We need a council that is on its toes. There’s been a lot of good work done to date, and I want to build on that.
“None of these complex issues can be really simplistically answered, there’s got to be an array of strategies.”
In respect to water, Dr Vonhoff said the Toowoomba region needed to embrace recycled water for nondrinking purposes, as part of a sophisticated water management scheme.
“We have to think boldly about our plans on how we harness our water,” she said.
“There’s a lot of talk about a number of different options, and we need to have them all on the table, (and also that) aquifers are an exhaustible resource.
She also placed better bushfire management as a major election commitment.
“It would have to be an integrated bushfire plan, considering indigenous hazard reduction methods,” she said.
Dr Vonhoff will launch her campaign this morning in Toowoomba.