Pay walled but interesting
One more seat has been left empty in the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup council chambers following a second resignation. Effective from November 26, the shire announced Cr Alexis Davy had resigned, with her term not set to expire until October 2027 after being elected in 2023. She is the second councillor to quit since October’s election, with former councillor Lisa Glover resigning on October 24.
In an online statement, Ms Davy said she respected those in the shire who serve the community, but a decision was backed that she so strongly disagreed with that she has left the table. “Over the last two years I’ve learnt that working in local government is a choice to put yourself in a challenging environment day after day - financial constraints, aggrieved community members and constantly evolving complexity,” she said. “As a councillor, you are required to represent your community on issues that affect them. You debate, sometimes you disagree, you vote, and then you are required to stand behind every decision of council. A decision was made by council I feel strongly about, and in the interests of a united council, I’ve decided to step down from my role.”
Chief executive Nicholas O’Connor said having fewer councillors could present challenges such as reduced community representation, but acknowledged some community members would see the situation differently. “The previous term of council decided to seek community views on the pros and cons of reducing the seats on council from nine to seven, which is a conversation we were contemplating having with the community,” he said.
u/elwexo over on the alien site did some digging
TL;DR It’s a land development matter, basically mining sand in an apparently environmentally sensitive area, which one of the other councillors has a financial interest in (they appear to have abstained from the vote). It was narrowly (4-3) passed.
From the minutes:
Item 9.1.2: That council pursuant to Schedule 2, Part 9, Clause 68(2)(b) of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 and the provisions of the Shire of Donnybrook Balingup Local Planning Scheme No. 7 (LPS7), approves the Development Application P25035 Industry-Extractive (Sand) at Lot 10 Donnybrook Boyup Brook, Yabberup subject to the following conditions and advice:
[several pages of notes]I suppose this time at least the councillor doesn’t seem to be a raving lunatic, but has a fair ethics reason for resigning. But considering its the second in a few months, maybe theres more to the story.
