Dale Bainbridge

Dale Bainbridge is a believer in the potential of Warragul for residential and business growth.

For many years, during business and community involvements in Warragul, Mr Bainbridge has had an interest in one day being on council – and decided the timing was right.

Mr Bainbridge has lived in Warragul for 28 years and has been involved extensively in the town’s sporting groups and business community.

Mr Bainbridge purchased the Railway Hotel in Warragul in 1995 and for 11 years ran the hotel precinct which included opening rthe Sporty nightclub, Fiddlers Green Irish Bar and later purchasing the Orient Hotel.

He is currently franchise owner of Mercure Warragul and Sebel Moorabbin and also manages residential apartment complexes in Melbourne.

Through these businesses, Mr Bainbridge said he had to deal with many owners and body corporates and was aware of the importance of being answerable.

He said being on council was similar, councillors had to be answerable to their communities.

“A councillor is there to represent its ratepayers and ensure that transparency and logical decisions are made in their best interests.

“The perception out there is certainly that is not occurring, so something is not going right.

Mr Bainbridge said he had always been a strong believer in the potential of Warragul and the shire.

“I think we are heading into exciting times with both growth and development in the area and I am keen to become involved to ensure the best outcomes for our residents and ratepayers.

“My big thing is what Warragul looks like on the outside and the inside. We have to get that perception right and then the rest would follow.

Mr Bainbridge said the area had great potential for residential development. “We don’t promote it as we could for residential development. We are potentially the next Berwick in terms of being such a pretty town.

If elected, Mr Bainbridge said he did not want to go on council with any pre-conceived ideas. “I want to see how it operates and what can be done better… listen to what is happening in the community.

Mr Bainbridge said he had been well supported by the business community and if elected, he wanted to host a “thank tank” once a month to engage with people about what their concerns or issues were in the town.

Mr Bainbridge supports redevelopment of the West Gippsland Arts Centre as a key projects for the town’s ongoing growth and as a facility that has the potential to give so much back to the community.

He said the arts centre and its surrounds had huge potential in attracting people to the town, suggesting even a Christmas light show or ongoing light shows on the mass of bricks as regular attractions.

Mr Bainbridge said he would like to see the new council undertake benchmarking against other similar councils. “I would like us to look at the figures of a similar shire and line them up to what’s occurring here.”