After resigning from the Labor party, Dr Ross Kerridge will challenge Nuatali Nelmes for the role of Newcastle Lord Mayor.

His decision, to run in the NSW Local Government Elections on Saturday 14 September, arose over his displeasure with the current state-of-affairs at City of Newcastle (CN).

Dr Kerridge has spent his entire career serving others.

And, as a Staff Specialist Anaesthetist at the John Hunter Hospital, he claims he knows how to lead and work in a team under pressure.

“I joined Labor at the age of 18, so it saddened me to resign from the party as a lifelong member,” he said.

“But, I no longer have any faith in the leadership in our city under the current Lord Mayor and her team of councillors.

“Our city has witnessed scandal after scandal, embarrassment after embarrassment.

“We need fresh leadership that will actually listen to the community.

“I believe we require councillors who will cooperate with the city’s small businesses, with community groups and ratepayers and who’ll passionately serve on the council without using the position as a stepping stone to become the next state or federal member.”

Dr Kerridge stated he was determined to bring honesty, integrity and transparency back to City of Newcastle.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen far too many scandals play out over the past decade,” he said.

“From the sell-off of the Roundhouse administration building and the nonsensical leasing of the Stewart Avenue site to the privatisation of the inland pools and the attacking of state MPs.

“I feel that the ratepayers of Newcastle are seeking change.

“They want to see leadership in our council that brings the community together, not divides it.

“Community groups, small businesses and ratepayers are all desperate for sensible policies and expenditure of ratepayer’s funds.

“If I’m elected Lord Mayor, my focus will be on ensuring all of our suburbs have basic services like footpaths and decent roads rather than prioritising skateparks on the beach.

“Too much money’s been wasted on so many unnecessary things.”

Dr Kerridge’s key priorities, if elected:

• Working collaboratively and respectfully with all 12 councillors and building a culture of respect and cooperation
• Building a council that works efficiently and effectively to serve all of our community
• Stop the waste and encourage the council to focus on service delivery – not for glamour projects costing millions but delivering essential projects that benefit the whole community
• Fixing the culture at council, by appointing the best people this community has to offer
• Ending the privatisation obsession and minimising use of consultants and external services – let’s bring basic council services back in-house
• Ensuring that the council plays a key role in bringing the community together by providing services, facilities, sporting and cultural events for all to enjoy fairly, equally and together
• Ensuring actual community consultation is conducted. Currently, residents are not respected and ratepayers are rarely listened to
• Focusing on good local government, not state or federal politics

To engage with Dr Kerridge’s campaign, visit: ournewcastle.info

For more news stories:

• Candidates emerge for local government elections
• Optus customers in Cessnock to be impacted by service disruption
• Muswellbrook Medicare Mental Health Centre opens

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