Nurse Geoffrey Hudson will lead the Greens party ticket for the upcoming Albury Council election and he plans to use his personal experience to push for a better Border hospital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The central Albury resident will be No.1 for the group ahead of incumbent councillor Ashley Edwards who was elected for the Greens at the last poll in 2021.
Cr Edwards, an archaeologist, said she had decided to take the less winnable No.2 place for personal reasons.
"I've had a great time on council and I was really proud to be elected in 2021, but I've got a young family and I have a full-time job and I'm keen to focus my attention back on my family for the time being," Cr Edwards said.
"But I'd be thrilled to be the second councillor elected in September along with Geoff."
The remaining members of the ticket are Thurgoona-based education provider Dawn Dawson, North Albury social worker and Filipino immigrant Joseph Lumanog and South Albury freelance designer Kofi Isaacs.
Mr Hudson is the partner of former deputy mayor and inaugural Albury Greens councillor Amanda Cohn.
"I've obviously supported Amanda for the five-and-a-half years that she was on council, I think that's given me a really valuable insight into the inner workings of the place," he said.
Being the Albury branch president of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, Mr Hudson has concerns about the fate of the contentious redevelopment of Albury hospital.
"The Greens have always supported a single-site hospital that meets the needs of our community, it's pretty clear that's not what's being delivered currently - we've seen cost blowouts, we've seen timeline blowouts," Mr Hudson said.
"So if elected to council I'll bring some frontline health worker advocacy right to that issue."
Asked by The Border Mail if the council had been vocal enough on the hospital, Mr Hudson replied "I would do things slightly differently if I'm elected".
"Council has obviously supported the single-site model from the start, but I think the details have changed and we probably do need to be pushing harder for a greenfields site," he said.
More generally Mr Hudson said he was concerned about the council not following through after developing plans, citing its Thurgoona-Wirlinga blueprint resulting in a petrol station near the Table Top Road-Thurgoona Drive intersection.
"The Diamond Drive development, I think, is a really good example of that where there was a beautiful plan for a really community-focused centre there and unfortunately it got subdivided and now there's a petrol station there and there is going to be much worse outcomes for the community in terms of pedestrian access, liveability," Mr Hudson said.
Cr Edwards said her support for free period products to be made available via vending units at five community centres and the addition of shade sails above playgrounds had resonated strongly.
"I've had amazing conversations with the people that work in those community centres where the machines are now installed and some really kind of harrowing stories about people's experiences and how services like that can really make a difference," she said.
"And the shade (sails), you can see them being erected now, they're going up in South Albury, they're going up in central Albury, they're going up in Lavington, so I'm really proud and excited to see that that work is now coming to fruition."
