Peter Kostos - East Ward

Rural issues will continue to be the focus of Peter Kostos if he is re-elected to Baw Baw Shire Council.

The East Ward candidate has previously served eight years over three terms for the former Lardner and Mt Worth Wards and was re-elected to the new East Ward in 2016.

“There’s still a lot of unfinished business in the rural sector. There’s a lot of road maintenance to be done.”

Mr Kostos, of Warragul South, said there was more than 700 kilometres of unsealed roads across the East Ward.

He said council this year doubled its investment in road maintenance from $4 million to $8 million.

“Obviously there is a lot more opportunity for people to complain about their roads in this ward but since the new contract, it’s been a lot quieter.”

Mr Kostos said he was keen to oversee appropriate planning and development in the shire, but particularly in the east ward.

“There’s still a lot of development to happen in the east ward. Trafalgar will expand by a large amount in the near future.

He said there were plans for 650 new residential lots on the western edge of Trafalgar and another 350 new lots in Yarragon.

“That will hopefully create jobs and support for local businesses. Bringing more people in to shop in local towns is important.

Mr Kostos said delivering the needed infrastructure to those towns also was important such as walking trails, another pavilion at Dowton Park and calls for a basketball stadium at Trafalgar or Yarragon.

He said sustainable development was a big issue – “it’s all about lot sizes and creating green spaces.”

Mr Kostos said the east ward was 68 per cent of the total shire area and he acknowledged the small towns were just as important as the highway towns.

He said he had built up strong interaction with community groups across the ward during the past four years.

“I really enjoy the interaction with the community…I enjoy going to their meetings.

He said he originally nominated for council because he was concerned about rural issues and had a rural focus. While now retired, he said he spent 46 years working in the rural sector.

“Yarragon and Trafalgar are growing fast so the ward structure has changed and then there are small towns that are suffering.

Mr Kostos said he supported continuation of council’s Placemaker program that delivered much needed funds into small communities.

“The interaction with the community and spending money n what the community wants create positive results,” he said.

Mr Kostos said he would bring knowledge, experience and accountability to council and had strong communication skills, priding himself on returning people’s calls.