On Thursday, 10th October 2024, Councillor Merri Southwood was elected Lane Cove Mayor. This is Mayor Southwood’s second term on Lane Cove Council; she was Deputy Mayor from September 2022 to September 2023. She is a long-time resident of the Lane Cove Council area, having lived in Greenwich for 36 years.
The Lane Cove Councillors elect Lane Cove Mayors.
There were two nominees for Mayor – Merri Southwood and Scott Bennison. The Mayoral Vote was as follows:
Councillor Merri Southwood – 5 Votes
Councillor Scott Bennison – 3 Votes
Abstained – Councillor Katie Little
Councillor Southwood will serve as Mayor for the next two years.
Councillor Bridget Kennedy was the only nominee for Deputy Mayor. She was elected for a one-year term.
Statement After Mayoral Election
After being elected Mayor Southwood gave a short speech where she said:
“I am honoured to have been elected as Mayor for the next two years.
The Office of Local Government Councillor Handbook describes the Mayor as being the voice of the Council and the leader of the community.
I may have an official role as the voice of the Council, but I will be just one of many leaders.
We are blessed with so many amazing community leaders. We can point to many of these leaders; they are out there in the community, but we also have hundreds of people who go about doing great things quietly.
Our Council does some amazing work already but I hope that we can tap into the skills, experience and enthusiasm of many in the community so this LGA can thrive as a connected, inclusive and sustainable community.
I know my fellow Councillors, our Council Executive Team, and staff all want the best for Lane Cove, and I look forward to working with you all to achieve this objective.”
Mayor’s Priorities
“The Lane Cove Local Government Area’s major challenge is to preserve the features that make our LGA a great place to live whilst doing our bit to meet the pressing demands for housing. I will work with our community along with Council officers in this process,” said Mayor Southwood
“We must strive to finish Lane Cove Council’s significant development, the Lane Cove Sport and Recreation Facility, while doing all we can to minimise cost overruns.”
“We must also focus on caring for what we have. We need to fix infrastructure that may have been neglected, focus on caring for bushland and waterways, and implement a robust asset maintenance program to avoid a burden on future residents.”
“And we must look to sharing our scarce but beautiful open space.”
“It is important to me that our community members have confidence that they have a real role in Council decision-making.”
“Our community members are engaged, talented, and experienced. I will work towards greater teamwork with our community to make Lane Cove an LGA that no one wants to leave.”
Mayor Southwood’s Background Information
Mayor Southwood was born in Australia but lived in Indonesia and Hong Kong for her primary school years. She attended secondary school in Sydney and Johannesburg.
She studied law at the University of Sydney. After completing her law degree, she worked in a law firm and in-house in Victoria for eight years. During this time, she completed a Master of Laws, majoring in Industrial Law and Dispute Resolution.
After returning to Sydney, Mayor Southwood took a role teaching commercial law, employment law and business ethics in a range of TAFENSW’s vocational courses across several campuses and governance training to directors of the former Community Development Employment Projects program in Redfern and La Perouse.
In her last 10 years at TAFE, she was also an International Student Coordinator, supporting overseas students on various issues including educational, employment and accommodation concerns.
COVID and the need to juggle the care of two frail parents led to her retirement from TAFE in 2020.
As a long-term resident of Greenwich, Mayor Southwood told ITC she has had the privilege of being involved in school and community organisations from 1988 to 2021.
Mayor Southwood said:
“Like so many parents with children in the public education system, I focused on supplementing the limited resources available to publicly funded schools.
As President of the North Sydney Boys’ High School Council, I shared with parents and staff the sense of achievement in building a mezzanine level in the school hall with funds raised from the parent body.
Living in Greenwich allowed me to be involved in community organisations, both locally and in adjacent precincts.
Until I was elected to Lane Cove Council, I was actively involved for over 10 years as a committee member and, for several years, as President of the Greenwich Community Association.
These were challenging times with the proposed changed operation at the Viva (formerly Shell) terminal, the St Leonards South Master Plan and the Bob Campbell Oval projects, all having significant potential impacts on the Greenwich area.
In 2018-19, I worked with the “Overdevelopment—We’re Over It” group drawn from St Leonards South, St Leonards, and Crows Nest to coordinate a response to the development plans arising from the Crows Nest Metro.
This provided great insight into the interplay between state and local planning controls and the need for adjacent LGAs to work collaboratively.”
Downtime
When Mayor Southwood is not working on council matters, she likes to spend time with her husband and four grandchildren, aged four months to seven years.
“My grandchildren are very aware of the environmental and social challenges we all face, and their insights and honesty have played a major role in framing my focus as a Councillor,” said Mayor Southwood.
“I am a keen follower of current affairs and enjoy reading mainly non-fiction or autobiographical works.
And, for my moments of mindfulness, I love knitting.
If a few free days pop up, I try to head to Boomerang Beach on the mid-North Coast. This area has been part of my life since I was 17- it is a special place for me and my family.
The beach walks (with dogs), and the magnificent trees in the Myall Lakes National Park never cease to delight me.”
Mayor Southwood’s Contact Details
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.merrisouthwoodforlanecove.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/councillormerrisouthwood
In the Cove – Easy Access to All Our Articles
In the Cove, WhatsApp
