Experienced Councillor Michael Kidd says he is all about making life better for the community and improving the liveability of Leeton.
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After serving three terms on Leeton Shire Council from 2004 - 2008, 2008 - 2012 and once more from 2016 to now, Councillor Kidd told The Irrigator that there still plenty more he wanted to do on behalf of the community.
In particular he noted he wanted to focus on the 'bigger picture' for the growing town.
"Leeton is a really good country town, a great place to bring up kids which has been a big focus for council in recent years, making the community more family friendly," Councillor Kidd said.
"Often the need to create jobs is a big talking point but we need to think bigger than that and think about long term sustainability and future generations."
To achieve this, Councillor Kidd said he had a vested interested in creating a more 'liveable Leeton".
"Through capital works projects at the Roxy Theatre, new facilities at the ovals, the new pool, skate parks, the opening of LMAG and the splash park at Yanco, these are all projects aimed at opening the community up for our young people," Councillor Kidd said.
"To attract families to the region we also need to continue looking at opening up affordable land and housing for families wanting to live in our community.
"My vision now that these projects have been or are close to completion is so see them all come together and function under the liveable Leeton concept."
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Moreover, after working at Leeton District Hospital since 1982 as the radiologist, Councillor Kidd said he understood the complexities of the health system more in depth than most.
"Health is a really important issue for our community and I think we need to sell our community better to attract medical professionals to work at our hospital," Councillor Kidd said.
"There is a pulling back of health services to regional cities such as Wagga and we need to hammer down the fact that people in Leeton often have to travel hours to access those services."
According to Councillor Kidd, whilst financial incentives do exist for medical professionals working in the regions, the incentive is a blanket amount, meaning that it was more likely a doctor would be attracted to living and working in a larger regional city as opposed to smaller towns like Leeton.
"We need to attract people here to work and even more importantly we need to figure out a way to retain them," Councillor Kidd said.
"What we need to do look at providing some additional icing on the cake and look at other ways to incentivise medical professionals to Leeton."
Councillor Kidd also noted he wanted to put Leeton on the map and establish a seven day economy in the community.
"A seven day economy is good for businesses and good for residents and will keep dollars circulating locally," Councillor Kidd said.
"We need to start concentrating on attracting businesses, creating a good climate for businesses and look at our planning zones for not just housing but industrial land."
At the core of Councillors Kidds campaign for re election is his innate desire to see the community grow and be sustainable well into the future.
"We need to expand, staying the same is effectively going backwards," Councillor Kidd said.
"I am a big community person, I am trying to make life better for ordinary people and whilst council hasn't always succeeded I am an honest tryer."
The Local Government Elections will be held on Saturday December 4th.
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