Oscar Parry
The Hume council chamber is set for a shake-up through a ward restructure and adoption of a single-member ward system for the next term, meaning Sunbury will lose representation through one less councillor.
Jacksons Creek Ward, currently representing Sunbury and Bulla, will be split into two wards – Emu Creek and Jacksons Hill.
All three current Jacksons Creek Ward councillors – Jack Medcraft, Jarrod Bell, and Trevor Dance – have nominated to run again.
Crs Medcraft and Dance will face-off against each other for the Emu Creek Ward vacancy, meaning one will not be re-elected next term.
Also registered to run for this ward is candidate Kate Hamley.
Natalie Harrison, Cr Bell, and John Karagiannidis will contest against each other for the Jacksons Hill Ward vacancy.
Ms Harrison and Trevor Dance have advertised that they are running as a team.
Current councillors Carly Moore Jim Overend, Karen Sherry, Sam Misho, Jodi Jackson, Naim Kurt, and Joseph Haweil have nominated for re-election across the municipality.
Current councillor Chris Hollow of Meadow Valley Ward did not nominate.
In total, 68 candidates in Hume have registered to run in the upcoming election.
The new wards, each with one vacancy as per the single-member ward system, are: Aitken Ward, Bababi Marning Ward, Burt-kur-min Ward, Emu Creek Ward, Jacksons Hill Ward, Merlynston Creek Ward, Mount Ridley Ward, Roxburgh Park Ward, Tullamarine Ward, Woodlands Ward and Yubup Ward.
As reported by Star Weekly, there were community concerns raised late last year about one less councillor representing Sunbury.
According to an Electoral Representation Advisory Panel report, there was opposition towards the move to a single-councillor ward structure.
“The panel also observed that some submitters expressed strong concern about reducing the number of councillors representing Sunbury,” the report said.
“The uneven population distribution and growth in the council did not make it possible to create three single-councillor wards for the Sunbury area that would adhere to the… deviation requirement.”
Voting opens on Monday, October 7 and closes on Friday, October 25.
Voting in this election is by post only.
Aitken Ward (one vacancy)
Carly Moore
Gurpreet Singh
Harsimran Kaur
Bababi Marning Ward (one vacancy)
Mohamad Abbouche
Ozcan Oztas
John Haddad
Sema N. Bolat
Graeme David Marr
Asif Naeem
Burhan Yigit
Burt-kur-min Ward (one vacancy)
Hussam Mestou
Sarwan Singh Sandhu
Jo Hardie
Gurpreet Singh Mann
Manoj Kumar
Avonjot Singh
Manisha Garg
Sabahat Farooq
Jim Overend
Emu Creek Ward (one vacancy)
Jack Medcraft
Trevor Dance
Kate Hamley
Jacksons Hill Ward (one vacancy)
Natalie Harrison
Jarrod Bell
John Karagiannidis
Merlynston Creek Ward (one vacancy)
Joe Aguilus
Mutullah Can Yolbulan
Shahnoor Shah
Yesim Kuluk
Ibrahim Gocol
Bassima Hawli
Sheena Haweil
Micaela Griffiths
Karen Sherry
Mount Ridley Ward (one vacancy)
Amarjeet Singh Bhullar
Marcus Harrington
Venkata Ambati
Ricky Rataul Singh
Ananta Raj Poudel
Daniel English
Raj Mann
Roxburgh Park Ward (one vacancy)
Yasir Mahmud
Phillip Di Biase
Sargon Thomas
Muhammad Nisar Ul Murtaza
Roshan Silva
David Williams
Aleyna Mimi
Drew Jessop
Muhtadi Albandar
Sam Misho
Sahar Ageed
Tullamarine Ward (one vacancy)
Jodi Jackson
Linda Hanna
Naim Kurt
Woodlands Ward (one vacancy)
Steve Gagen
Lalith Udugampala
Khalid Hussain
Adem Atmaca
Assaad Eddie Issa
Joseph Haweil
Yubup Ward (one vacancy)
Vikein Mouradian
Muhammad Shahzad
Guri Singh
Sahib Singh
Ally Watson
Emily Greco
Ravneet Singh Sohi
