We need tower of power
Incumbent defends record as rivals promise to do more
Southport councillor Brooke Patterson has told business leaders it would be a decadelong project to fix the CBD as it is confronted by the homeless and needs a “tower of power”.
At the Central Chamber of Commerce Meet the Candidates breakfast on Wednesday, Cr Patterson defended her record as a first-term councillor when asked about the homeless issue, the bid to secure an office tower to house council staffers and a federal court and a Priority Development Area plan.
Her rival, Samantha Delmege, who has focused on a back to basics campaign, said the CBD was a mess with homelessness and people urinating in the streets.
Cr Patterson said when she was elected she knew it would take a decade to fix the housing problem, secure a tower of power and get the area firing with commercial development.
“When I started I said this is a 10-year plan. I’m four years in and I’m on track,” she said.
Cr Patterson acknowledged homelessness was a state issue but she had pushed the case for the City to be involved because it was occurring on council streets.
“What that has enabled us is to be able to hold the state government to account. All of a sudden we know how many people are on our streets sleeping at night,” she said.
In December last year, in a report in the Bulletin, it was revealed a homeless woman in her 70s was sleeping rough and protected by six shopping trolleys on the corner of Southport CBD’s Chinatown for three weeks.
Cr Patterson later posted a video, taken on Davenport St, saying public space liaison officers were organising for housing for the homeless.
“So these trolleys are on the move very shortly. But we are giving them a little bit more time while that transition occurs,” she said, at the time.
The Bulletin in a report in October last year revealed the “towers of power” project was on the backburner with many councillors and the administration opposed to the proposed $300m spend.
Cr Patterson at the chamber breakfast said she had spoken recently to the federal opposition about getting a commitment to reinvestigate a federal circuit court being based in the CBD.
She said a report would be provided to the next council after the March 16 poll on future staff accommodation in the CBD. She said it made sense to have council workers based in Southport.
Ms Delmege said as registered nurse, she had cared for people over 20 years and now wanted to extend that to embrace the entire community. “I want to take it back to roads, rates and rubbish,” she said.
Candidate David Woodley, known for his work as an actor, said he returned to the Coast three years ago from Sydney with his young family.
He promised to be “good listener” as a councillor.