By Mikayla van Loon
Having reached 40 years of serving his community as a councillor, Len Cox has once again put his community first by nominating for Walling Ward in the Yarra Ranges Council election.
While the contemplation of retiring did cross his mind, Mr Cox said there were still projects and issues he wanted to address and the only way to do that was as a council representative.
The two main reasons were the development of the 150 Cambridge Road site and the Kilsyth Pool.
“I’m very, very keen to see [Cambridge Road] developed into what I think it should be, which is parkland, bike and walking tracks and some natural bushland. I’ve talked to a lot of residents around that area, and they all seem to agree with me about that,” he said.
“I’m very keen to make sure it actually does happen and the best way to make sure it happens is to be on council to just check that it’s all getting done the way I believe it should be done and the way I think the majority of our residents think it should be done.
“The council decided to close the Kilsyth Pool down this year, and I was bitterly disappointed. If I was fortunate enough to get reelected, if I was on council, I’d be trying to get the new council to change its mind and rebuild that pool.”
Mr Cox said the dream of a pool facility seemed so out of reach because of the tens of millions of dollars it would cost the council.
“There’s not a chance on this earth of them finding $90 million to put into it, in which case nothing is going to get done,” he said.
Also on his radar, Mr Cox said talk of the Montrose Quarry wanting to expand and the issue of rates, particularly the disparity for his ward compared to nearby councils, were high priorities.
“There is no place for a quarry in a residential area and they shouldn’t be allowed to expand. People shouldn’t be having to breathe in the dust that comes out of the quarry because it’s not healthy for them and that concerns me,” he said.
“Rates are a problem. People are short of money at the moment and if you live in Kilsyth, half of it is in Yarra Ranges, and half of it is in Maroondah.
“If you live in the Maroondah end of Kilsyth your rates will be $600 less than if you live in the Yarra Ranges end of Kilsyth, $600 is a lot of money for a lot of people who are struggling with finances at the moment.”
Mr Cox said his belief as to why rates were so high in the urban areas like Walling Ward was because “we’re putting so much money into the rural areas”.
“That’s something Maroondah doesn’t have and in my opinion, Walling Ward, which is right hard against Maroondah Council, should be having similar rates to what Maroondah is having.
“I think it’s worth a try in talking our council into reducing our rates in Walling Ward to something closer to what Maroondah rates are, which they should do, because we’re giving discounts to all the farmers in the rural areas, which we’re not giving to people in my ward.”
Passionate about returning as a member of the Disability Advisory Committee if re-elected, Mr Cox said “it’s working towards helping so many disabled people that we have in the municipality”.
First elected as a councillor in 1982 under the Lilydale Shire, Mr Cox said he “never intended to stay for more than one term” but working for his residents became something he had to do.
“The longer I stayed, the more I saw what was needed in the municipality. And then, of course, we had amalgamations and the situation was very different after that.
“But I’ve always said that if you’re going to be on council, you’re there for only one reason, and that is to make life easier for your residents and that’s what’s actually kept me there.
“That’s why they’ve elected me in the past, is to do what’s good for them, and that’s what I think I need to do, and that still, after 40 years, has been my driving force, that I need to work for the people of Walling Ward.”
Despite his age, Mr Cox said while “I’m not as young as I used to be, I’m very fortunate I keep very good health and my brain works pretty well still” and he believes he can still best serve the community.
“It’s a pretty good place to live anyway, but I certainly want to make it a better place to live.”
