COUNCILLORS Joseph Cutri and Catherine Cumming will have seen some highs and lows during their 10 years on Maribyrnong City Council.
Cr Cutri said he was “rapt” to see the change in the Stony Creek ward that takes in the suburbs of Tottenham and Braybrook.
“If you compare it now to 10 years ago, you would see that this is a vastly different ward,” he said.
“You can see it in the landscape, the quality open space and the health care centre has brought a huge difference to the area – it’s been such a success story that I don’t know what we did prior to 1998.”
Cr Cutri said the Braybrook Community Visioning Plan was “the icing on the cake” as it reflected a “neighbourly, green, multicultural and affordable” place to live.
“Braybrook once had a stigma,” he said.
“Now it’s a place where people want to live, you can see it by the developments coming through.”
Cr Cutri spent two years as mayor, in 2001 and 2004, he said it was the time that issues with the Port of Melbourne started to emerge – such as traffic management concerns.
“Traffic issues will always be there,” he said.
“So long as we’ve got the ports next to us it will be a big issue, I don’t think there will be a clear solution in future that will get rid of all these trucks.
“I think that as long as people continue to buy imports we will have a problem- it is part of a bigger underlying problem, that’s imports.
“We are buying so much from China that’s why we are getting all these ships and trucks on our roads.”
Cr Cutri resigned from his position as purchasing co-ordinator for the City of Melbourne last year and opened his music management business called Fifteen Dogs.
He keeps a part-time office in Braybrook where he manages musicians.
“Music is my love, I wanted to be a rock star at one stage but that didn’t happen,” he said.
Cr Cumming said having her three children while representing the Bluestone Ward on council was an eye-opener.
“I actually opened myself up to understanding more completely some of the services that council has to offer – childcare, kindergartens and playgrounds,” she said.
Cr Cumming said she was happy with the progressive developments that have taken place in West Footscray in the past 10 years.
“We have a brand new library and learning centre that is combined with the neighbourhood house,” she said.
Cr Cumming added that she looked forward to the upgrade of the West Footscray YMCA and to VicTrack’s upgrade to the West Footscray train station surrounds.
She also looked forward to the West Footscray urban design framework.
“At the end of last year, 40 to 50 people attended a meeting telling the council how they want West Footscray to look, which is obviously a green West Footscray,” she said.
Cr Cumming said that she was likely to run for council at the end of her present term.
She declared at the last council election that it would be her last term.
“I’m reconsidering,” she said. “If I don’t become mayor I will run again – but if I do (resign) I could be quite comfortable in saying that I have done everything that I could possibly do on council.”
Cr Cumming, despite 10 years on council, has not served a term as mayor.
Cr Cumming includes in her low lights on council the Western Bulldogs decision to leave Whitten Oval.
“They left in 1997, my first year on council,” she said.
“They left Whitten Oval to go to Optus Oval and changed their name from Footscray Bulldogs to Western Bulldogs.
“Obviously the highlight was to get a masterplan drawn-up via council in 1999 and having that master plan funded and implemented by the Western Bulldogs when they were successful with Federal Government funding,” she said referring to the redevelopment of Whitten Oval.
Cr Cumming also listed the council’s decision to sell Footscray Swim Centre and council owned land near the Maribyrnong River as disappointing times.
Cr Cumming intends to study midwifery at the Australian Catholic University this year.
