Bega Valley residents will finally be heading to the polls for local government elections next week.
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The council elections were postponed 12 months from September 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and then pushed back again to December 4 as the state continued to deal with lockdowns.
On November 4, the ballot draw was held in Bega, with 18 candidates vying for a seat around the Bega Valley Shire Council table.
The Bega Valley council comprises nine councillors. However, former mayor Kristy McBain stepped away from her role to contest the federal election, and another former mayor, Sharon Tapscott, left last year for family health reasons.
As well as those vacancies, Robyn Bain and Jo Dodds have not nominated again, meaning there will be at least four new faces on council.
Labor is running a group ticket for the first time, with Helen O'Neil and Simon Daly, while Cathy Griff is heading up a Greens ticket that also includes Vivien Harris, Paula Park, Angus Ashcroft and Peter Haggar.
Independents in the running (in ballot order) are Karen Wright, Mitch Nadin, Neil Bourke, Nathan O'Donnell, Russell Fitzpatrick, Tony Allen, David Porter, Liz Seckold, Joy Robin, Mike Britten and Joshua Shoobridge.
Many of the candidates have responded to questions targeting priorities identified by our readers.
