BY DAMIEN MADIGAN 17/09/2008 11:57:00 AM
The Blue Mountains is facing a nail-biting finish to its local government elections with three council spots hanging in the balance.
But with big swings to the Greens, the rise of at least one new independent and a drop in the Labor vote in all but one ward, the power balance in the new council could be very different.
The Labor Party is struggling to maintain its Ward 1 spot held previously by retiring mayor Jim Angel. His successor Naomi Parry is in a three way tussle for two council positions with independent councillor Terri Hamilton and first-time candidate Janet Mays.
“It’s certainly a cliffhanger,” said Ms Mays, who currently has a narrow primary vote lead over the ALP but is just behind Clr Hamilton.
The Greens topped the poll in Ward 1 with Eleanor Gibbs winning 21 per cent of the latest primary vote count.
The Labor Party is facing a similar struggle in Ward 3 where sitting councillor Alison McLaren is in a tight race with the Greens for the final position.
Like Ward 1, this result will be decided on preferences which are not due to be counted until tomorrow, September 18.
Save Our Springwood-backed independent candidate Brendan Luchetti comfortably won the Ward 3 poll with 29 per cent of the primary vote.
Mr Luchetti’s victory will place strong pressure on council to abandon its revitalisation process for Springwood on the back of community concerns about Coles or Woolworths coming to the town.
“One of the first things I will do is get in touch with every councillor . . . and put it to them that on the strength of my election victory the people of Springwood have spoken and they need to be listened to,” Mr Luchetti told the Gazette on Monday.
One of the strongest proponents of the revitalisation process, the Liberal Party’s Daniel Myles, was elected in second place in Ward 3 with 22 per cent of the current primary vote.
Ward 3 also claimed one of two confirmed scalps in the election with independent councillor Lyn Trindall failing to retain the seat she won in a by-election two-and-a-half years ago.
The other casualty was independent Ward 4 councillor Anna Brown who came second last in a field of five with 18 per cent of the primary vote.
The political demise of the two independents marked the end of the Blue Mountains First movement started by high profile former councillor Angelique Henson. Although Blue Mountains First was no longer a registered political party, both candidates still used its brand in their campaigns.
A popular force for some time, outgoing mayor Jim Angel was one political figure not mourning its passing.
“I think the result in Ward 4 puts the final nail in the coffin for the failed experiment called Blue Mountains First,” he said on Monday.
While Wards 1 and 3 have left the final election result in doubt, the other results were clear cut.
Liberal Party deputy mayor Chris Van der Kley was re-elected in Ward 2 although David Clark of the Greens topped the poll in the Mid-Mountains.
The Labor Party’s Adam Searle was also returned comfortably in Ward 2, but with a small swing against him.
In Ward 4, former councillor Mark Greenhill defied a State anti-Labor swing to win a council spot, narrowly behind the Liberal Party’s Fiona Creed.
Greens candidate Howard McCallum will replace Anna Brown as the third Ward 4 councillor.
Jostling for the mayoral position will start in earnest once the final council spots are decided.
If the Labor Party retains its representation, the Gazette understands its mayoral candidate will most likely be Adam Searle while the Liberal Party is favoured to put forward deputy mayor Chris Van der Kley.
If the Greens or independents gain even two of the remaining three spots, a completely new council face could end up wearing the mayoral robes.