Orange Councillors & Candidates

Jeremy Buckingham

Councillor Jeremy Buckingham

Member of Group G, the Green Team:

With my wife Sarah and our two school aged boys, Eden and James, we have happily made Orange our home since 1997. We love the friends, easy lifestyle, clean air, great parks and warm community that is Orange. As a family we love to go bushwalking on Mt Canobolas, play weekend sport or to meet friends down the street for a cuppa.

Born in Tasmania in the 1973 I moved to ‘the mainland’ in the mid 1990’s. I worked as forklift driver, hardware store salesman and builders labourer, but after meeting Sarah in Sydney we decided that a ‘tree change’ was in order.

Since moving to Orange I have worked as a production manager with Sarah’s father Lee Bradbury at McMurtrie & Co. Stonemasons. I completed a trade certificate in stonemasonary and had the honour to work on the Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park, London and the Sir Neville Howse monument in Robertson Park.

I attended the University of Sydney’s Orange campus completing an Advanced Diploma in Land Management and Ecological Agriculture. In 2004 I was elected to the Orange City Council becoming the youngest person to serve on the Council and the first person running as a member of the Greens to be elected to a council west of the Great Dividing Range.

Since becoming elected I have voted on issues purely on the basis of merit, guided by what I believed was in the best interest of the Orange community. I have also raised the concerns of the people of Orange in the chamber and acted to ensure that council acted with integrity and transparency on the issues that matter.

Achievements on Council:

• Raised the water security issue and championed the need for stormwater harvesting
• Initiated Council’s first Climate Change policy
• Initiated Council’s Aboriginal Employment Strategy
• Chaired the Economic Development and Finance Committee
• Fought to protect the Botanic Gardens and Adventure Playground from developers
• Opposed the sale of Council’s open space including Sir Neville Howse park and the Ploughman’s Creek wetlands
• Acted to protect the cultural heritage and aesthetic charm of Orange’s street scapes from overdevelopment

What I will strive to achieve:

• A secure water supply through stormwater harvesting, higher rainwater tank rebates and more efficient use of water in the home, business and industry.
• Development that is planned in a responsible fashion providing for the necessary infrastructure in line with growth, minimising the impact on the natural environment, and respecting our history and heritage.
• Consideration of the needs of people who travel by foot, bicycle, scooter and public transport in traffic planning decisions.
• Expansion of the range of community festivals and events in Orange so as to provide a richer culture for all members of the community and so as to attract a greater number and range of visitors.
• Representation of all Orange residents and ratepayers in Council’s decision-making, including young people and others who are often disenfranchised or poorly represented.
• Council decision-making that is informed by genuine and timely community consultation, and that allows for direct input from a broad range of community-based groups.
• Decision-making that is open, transparent and fair, producing decisions for the good of the whole community, not just big business or those with vested interests.

Along with other members of the Green Team, I support the belief that the new Council must get back to basics and provide efficient and well maintained essential services.  Council can’t afford to undertake major projects one on top of the other.

The Green Team will deliver responsible financial management which maintains services, promotes sustainable development and protects the environment.

On September 13, please Vote 1 for Group G.

“A Healthy Council Needs its Greens”