A local resident of 22 years, former business owner and past Economic Development Manager at council, Trevor Sargeant, said it’s time to “rethink the way we do things”.
Trevor Sargeant said he was proudly “pro-business” because he strongly believes that supporting local businesses leads to expanded employment opportunities, a positive community and a strong economy.
“I have spent the past 17 years as Economic Development Manager with Port Macquarie Hastings Council, acting as a link between local business and local government,” Mr Sargeant said.
“I understand the needs, challenges and inner workings of both the private and government sectors and have seen first-hand what works and what doesn’t in our community.
“I’m told that no other current or former council staff members have stood for local election here, so I’m very pleased to be the first and would see it as a great honour and privilege to represent the community.”
During his time with council Mr Sargeant got to know and understand the issues and frustrations of business and worked closely with over 3000 local businesses. He thinks it’s time for a change and to rethink how some issues are approached and dealt with.
Mr Sargeant believes that a healthy environment equals a healthy economy.
“I support sustainable development that has the potential to bring economic benefits to our region, and that also protects our natural assets, such as our clean beaches, pristine waterways and unspoilt hinterland,” Mr Sargeant said.
Prior to joining council, Mr Sargeant spent five years establishing the previous Hastings Business Enterprise Centre.
“I have a good understanding of what drives the Hastings economy, our labour market and our business community and I want to bring that knowledge to the table as a Councillor.
“Hastings residents represent some of the finest of Australian traits: resourcefulness, initiative, creativity, support for each other and plain common sense.
“Equally, our council should aspire to be one of the nation’s best, and one we can be proud of.
“I see the Hastings’ community members as partners as much as they are citizens and ratepayers, and I am driven by the desire to work together to achieve success for our region.
Mr Sargeant has owned several retail outlets and a service and manufacturing business, and believes councils should take a much more pro-active role in encouraging business development.
Our region is in the strong position of exporting more goods than we import, but there is a real opportunity for local government to be more pro-active in the further development of our export potential.
“I simply don’t accept the accuracy of recent five per cent lows in local unemployment. When the ‘under-employed’ are taken into consideration, such as those who only work a couple of hours a week, we still have unacceptably high levels of unemployment.
“Certainly there have been improvements in our area’s economy since the appalling 15 per cent levels of unemployment I first encountered when establishing the Enterprise Centre in the early 1990s, but we do need more secure forms of employment and to shift the focus from the race for population growth to sustainable job creation.
“I am not a supporter of big government or big bureaucracy. Many great ideas come from enterprising individuals — the quiet achievers — and I believe there are too many instances where resourceful individuals have been ignored. The beach erosion at Lake Cathie is just one recent example.
“Once again, it’s time for a rethink on how we do things.
“Party politics should be kept out of local government,” Mr Sargeant said.
“Certainly I lean towards the conservative opinion and strongly believe in upholding national institutions, and I can also be relied on to stick to old fashioned honesty, fairness and common sense.
“And I do not make promises I cannot keep.”
With a personal interest in farming and produce, Trevor cites his role in assisting the establishment of the Food and Agriculture Program, including the Hastings Farmers Market and Tastings of the Hastings as one of the achievements he is most proud of.
Trevor has played a significant role in a number of other major achievements for the local community, including:
nthe construction and operation of the successful commercial wharf (Dennis Bridge)
nattracting a multi-university campus to service the Mid-North Coast
nthe development of a long-term strategic plan for the timber and forests industry
na major review of the Customer Care and Journey of Flavour programs
nthe preparation of industry development plans for Sancrox and Airport Employment Precincts
nthe production of comprehensive data sets on the performance of 111 industry sectors in Port Macquarie Hastings, including business benchmarks, workforce data and unemployment figures, and detailed workforce projections to 2031
nestablishing PeerSolutions Groups for businesses
