Councillor Jim SANDERSON BE (Syd) MEngSc LLB LLM (UNSW)
Jim has lived all but a few years of his life in Hunters Hill. He was educated at Hunters Hill Public School, Hunters Hill High School and the University of Sydney where he graduated in engineering.
His early career in engineering included substantial contributions to major projects including the Parliament House Flagmast. He led design teams for projects in a number of industries. During the time of his later career at UNSW, Jim also studied law, completing his Bachelor of Laws in 2008, his Master of Laws in 2012 and further studies in Planning Law in 2018.
Jim is a true Independent, having never been a member of a political party. He has campaigned for local issues, playing a major role in preventing the Carr Government closing Hunters Hill High School and made substantial contributions in preventing the Baird Government amalgamating Hunter’s Hill Council with Ryde and Lane Cove.
Jim was first elected to Council in 2017 and was Deputy Mayor from 2019 to 2021. His qualifications, experience and deep understanding of and connection with our community enabled his significant achievements on Council, while scrutinising the opaque processes of the incumbent Council.
Jim is delighted to bring his experience to a team of outstanding candidates with qualifications and experience that will get Hunter’s Hill Council back on track.
Jim’s Story
Independence and Transparency
One of the many things I love about our Municipality is my ongoing connection with the actively engaged community that I have been part of for nearly all of my life. My true passion about our character and heritage, our bushland and open spaces and our ongoing sustainability is well known.
Here, I will say more about Independence and transparency. During my life in Hunters Hill and my nearly seven years as a Councillor, I have advocated that our community must be empowered as an essential partner in Council decision making. Good decision making requires access to all relevant facts, including understanding the opinions of community members. Information and ideas must flow freely in both directions. In a small local government area, capable Independent Councillors who genuinely engage and represent community, provide an essential conduit for this flow of ideas and information.
I strongly believe we are best served by small local government areas, with capable and caring Independent Councillors who genuinely represent community and are not beholden to the dictates of a political party. This is why in 2015, I stood up with Phil Jenkyn, Ross Williams and the majority of our community to stop a Liberal Premier removing our right to meaningful local government. Where was Councillor Zac Miles then? Clr Miles voted against Council appealing to the NSW Court of Appeal. Council’s appeal saved our Municipality, with the Government ordered to pay Council’s costs.
Openness and Transparency - The terms ‘Openness and Transparency’ are frequently uttered but what do they really mean? As a Councillor, my work in relation to opening up this Council has included:
My successful foreshadowed motion that stopped artificial turf on Gladesville Reserve that was promoted by the then Liberal Councillors and came to Council for endorsement with NO community consultation;
Amendments to Council’s Community Engagement Strategy to enhance community awareness and participation;
Notices of Motion that created three committees to give our community a voice through membership of those committees or opportunity to advocate on issues including Bushland Management, Sustainability, and Movement and Transport; and
Importantly, redrafting Chapter 4 of Council’s Code of Meeting Practice to retain the right of community members to address Council during meetings, that otherwise would have been lost.
Listening to Community
Our greatest resource is the extraordinary capacity of our community members through their voluntary work and advocacy. Unfortunately, our community is not always listened to or more concerningly not always given the opportunity to be heard. Even a great project like the Bedlam Bay Swim Site could be improved if some of the suggestions from the surrounding community were incorporated at the design stage rather than having good ideas show up in objections after the development application (DA) was lodged. Regrettably, this failure to listen will make this beautiful sandy beach inaccessible to kayaks, so paddlers will find it difficult to drop in for a swim.
Close community collaboration allows Council to get it right the first time. Fortunately, by contrast the advocacy of the Henley, Huntleys Point and Huntleys Cove communities, including some outstanding work by Chris Mutton, was a very significant part of delivery of the highly commended Henley Precinct Masterplan.
Priorities
We are committed to empowering our community as an essential partner in Council decision making, and limiting closed sessions of Council meetings to genuinely confidential matters. Also, it will be very important to safeguard public space and access paths including to our foreshores. Above, I have concentrated on independence and transparency but our group stands for far more. Broadly the group platform is:
Independence and transparency
Promoting quality development
Protecting our natural and built heritage
Safeguarding public space and access paths including to foreshore
Key to a number of these issues is delivery of an improved Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP). Many of the amendments I have drafted for our LEP have been included in the Planning Proposal that Council voted to lodge for Gateway Determination. However, there is still a great deal of work yet to be completed before the LEP is ready for adoption to ensure it best protects our character, our built heritage and natural environment.
Marc and I have the qualifications and experience to get the LEP and DCP right. Both of us need to be part of the next Council to complete our work on the LEP and DCP Review and the Integrated Transport Strategy. If I am not re-elected, this will give the Liberals an absolute majority so they will continue to rubber stamp anything that is put before them, without analysis. At this election, I therefore see it as essential that both Marc and I are elected in South Ward and that Ross Williams comes back as Mayor to get Hunter’s Hill Council back on track.
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