Bob Redden says he wants to support development and opportunities, in announcing his run for Horsham Rural City Council at next month's Local Government Elections.
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"I think being on the council can assist with this," he said.
"It can involve long term planning, whether it be roads and connectivity to the Horsham rail freight hub (at Dooen), through to linkage with a trans-Australia rail tourist network, which I would envisage would run through Horsham between Cairns and Perth."
Mr Redden has also suggested a "rail sprint car linking Nhill, Horsham, Stawell and Ararat to Melbourne" would improve tourism to the area.
Now retired, Mr Redden previously worked at the Australian Grains Genebank at Horsham's Grains Innovation Park.
THE OTHER CANDIDATES ANNOUNCED SO FAR:
He is serving on the Community Reference Group for the City to River riverfront activation plan. He said he thought the council had done a good job engaging with all the affected stakeholders.
"There are things going on with further development of the wind farm, and the future prospects for mineral mining in the area. I think there is enormous scope for future jobs," he said.
"There are a number of things the council can look at, including encouraging rainwater tanks to be adopted by householders and businesses, for vegetable and flower gardens.
"I am involved in a number of major activities, like Rotary, the Australian Institute of Agricultural Sciences and a number of University for the Third Age activities."
Mr Redden said he wanted to see Horsham Rural City Council continue providing home support services to the elderly. Earlier this year, councillors voted in favour of offloading its services to a different provider, which is yet to be decided on.
Though a member of the Liberal Party and former Horsham branch president, Mr Redden said he would not promote a liberal agenda if elected to the council.
"There is no Liberal Party agenda at a local council level," he said. "My political party activity is purely for state and federal electoral matters.
"It would be leadership and discussion with ratepayers that are my core values," he said.
Mr Redden lives in Haven and moved to the region from Queensland in 2001.
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