A great day

ELECTION day was a great triumph for those members of the Cardinia Shire community who wanted to see changes in the council and expressed this opinion through the ballot box.
Candidates supported by the Cardinia Ratepayers and Residents Association were strongly supported in the election and it was evident that a higher percentage of residents participated in the voting process.
There was an extraordinary gathering of community members at the shire offices at 10am on Sunday to hear the formal announcement of the election results by VEC representative Bob Neal.
The atmosphere was one of success and congratulations and also demonstrated a remarkable expression of pleasure and celebration of achievement.
The CRRA would like to congratulate all members of the new council, particularly the newly elected councillors Brett Owen, Ed Chatwin and Bill Pearson who, together with re-elected councillor Bill Ronald, will work to achieve the changes anticipated by the community.
The CRRA looks forward to working cooperatively with the new council to achieve improved communication and increased community input.
There is a lot of hard work to be done and it is vitally important that we support and encourage the new councillors and advise them of community expectations.
This is the role of a ratepayers association and we will all need to work effectively on that basis.
It is significant that the CRRA is now being recognised as a means by which control of our local government will be returned to our representative councillors, who will be assisted by a capable and cooperative administrative body.
Various celebrations are taking place and an interesting coincidence worth noting is that the Cardinia Ratepayers and Residents Association was formally established on 26 November 2003, exactly two years prior to the 2005 election day.
Gloria O’Connor,
President,
Cardinia Ratepayers
and Residents Association.