The following candidates have nominated. Existing Councillors seeking re-election are marked with an asterisk before their name, ordered alphabetically based on Last name. Political affiliation is in brackets.

• Emma Burrows (Independent) Instagram | website
• Renee Egglestone (Independent)
• Chloe Holmes (Greens) Instagram
• *Helen Pavlidis (Independent) Instagram
• Henry Parker (Victorian Socialists)
• Katerine Theodosis (ALP) Instagram

Candidates Forum | Climate Survey | Stop Burning Plastic | Streets People Love | Waterways

Climate and Sustainability surveys and Pledges

Climate Action Merribek conducted a local tailored survey sent to all 55 candidates in all wards. Vote Climate also issued a survey on the Climate Emergency to all candidates across all Councils in Victoria. Stop Burning Plastic issued a pledge survey to all candidates across all Councils in Victoria. We undertook to compile results for Merri-bek of all 3 surveys. We followed our initial email up with a reminder to complete all 3 surveys.

One key assessment point is whether candidates respond, which provides one indicator how they may engage with constituents. If a candidate doesn’t respond, whether positive or negative, maybe you should not put them high on your preferences.

Name	Local Climate Survey	Climate Emergency Survey	Stop Burning Plastic Pledge
Emma Burrows (IND)	Yes Full Response	No Response	Yes
Renee Egglestone (IND)	No response	No response	No response
Chloe Holmes (Greens)	No response	No response	Yes
*Helen Pavlidis (IND)	No response	No response	No response
Henry Parker (Victorian Socialists)	No response	No response	No response
Katerine Theodosis (ALP)	No response	No response	No response

Merri-bek Climate Survey

Q4. Connections to Merri-bek Wards. Outline your connection to Merri-bek, do you live in the ward you are contesting, do you work in that ward? What are your other connections to the Merri-bek community?

Emma Burrows: Proud local, calling Merri-bek home for over 20 years. I live, shop, play and stay active in Westbreen. I have raised by 3 children in Westbreen and am friend to my neighbours. I am active in our community and schools – volunteering for community organisations and school council, mentoring young people and a participant in a council-led community panel to design the vision for Merri-bek.

Q5. Climate Emergency. Merri-bek Council declared a Climate Emergency in September 2018. Do you accept the research evidence from climate scientists and the UN Secretary General that:
(a) the earth is already too hot and we are outside the safe climate zone?
(b) we face a climate emergency?
(c) local cooling is required to prevent runaway warming?

Emma Burrows: Yes, Yes, Yes.

Q6. Governance and Triple bottom line accounting brings to account three domains that we need for a good life. They are economic, social and environmental sustainability. In the past projects have been delivered based on organisational silos often not considering other aspects outside the silo. Will you endeavour as a Councillor for Council to use triple bottom line accounting on all Council infrastructure decisions to ensure that climate emergency priorities are embedded in Council decisions? Note that triple bottom line is already encapsulated in the Local Government Act 2020 Section 9, 2b and 2c for good Council governance.

Emma Burrows: Yes

Q7: Transport: Upfield Rail Upgrade – Problems with parking and traffic congestion, capacity issues of public transport need solutions for upgrading the Upfield Line. According to Infrastructure Australia, the northern region Transport Corridor will reach and exceed capacity in the next decade. Do you support the Northern Councils Alliance campaign to Connect Melbourne’s North for duplication and extension of the Upfield rail line to Craigieburn and Wallan for provision of a more reliable and frequent rail service catering for the growing population in Merri-bek and residents in new growth suburbs further north?

Emma Burrows: Strongly Agree

Q8: Transport: Mode shift – What actions will you be pushing for to facilitate a mode shift to more sustainable modes of transport in Merri-bek as part of, or beyond, Moving Around Merri-bek Strategy (PDF), including increasing safety for walking and cycling and increasing public transport advocacy?

Emma Burrows: Traffic calming measures to reduce speed of cars. Safe, well-lit and connected bike and walking paths. Build trust with community by placing infrastructure where it will work, acknowledging that many in the north require car transport due to age, disability and lack of connected public transport. Involve and employ locals to facilitate a shift to active transport that will resonate with their neighbours.

Q9. Heat Vulnerability: Large sections of Merri-bek’s north are at the extreme end of the Heat Vulnerability Index, meaning residents are very susceptible to global warming extreme heat events. What will you do to address this beyond exisiting policies, including Merri-bek Urban Heat Island Effect Action Plan (PDF), Merri-bek Urban Forest Strategy 2017-2017 (PDF), Cooling the Upfield Corridor Action Plan 2018-2028 (PDF)?

Emma Burrows: Support Council’s efforts to respond to the urban heat island effect, and increase canopy cover. Support the use of reflective coatings to roads and footpaths to reduce heat absorption. Investigate cooling centres – air-conditioned public spaces where vulnerable people can escape the heat. Install shade cloths in local parks. Ensure building codes stipulate better insulation, cool roofs and efficient air-con systems. Use heat mapping technology to identify hot spots. Ensure roll out of Vic Gov battery program caters for high energy demand periods during hot days.

Q10. Waste Management. Merri-bek aims to be a leading council in sustainable waste management. What will you do to help Merri-bek in educating citizens on waste streams , to achieve Merri-bek’s 2030 zero waste to landfill target as part of Zero Carbon in the Planning Scheme – ESD Policy v2.0?

Emma Burrows: The Merri-bek waste management initiative, which focusses on employing local residents from Glenroy and Fawkner, to assist with waste reduction and management is cutting-edge. I would like to see this roll out in other areas, helping to manage waste effectively, but also provide local employment, fostering community involvement in sustainability.

Q11. Energy Efficiency and Renewables. Merri-bek has a goal of “Efficient and 100% renewably powered energy”. How can Merri-bek “walk the talk” on renewable energy and meet the community goals set in the Zero Carbon Merri-bek – Climate Emergency Action Plan 2020/21 – 2024/25 (PDF)?

Emma Burrows: Merri-bek already has a high number of households with solar panels (>9000), due to the Solar Saver program. The next challenge is to store this energy and use it during peak periods or outages. I am keen to know more about how Merribek council will work with the Victorian government’s household battery initiative to increase the use of renewable energy and reduce reliance on the grid and fossil fuels.

Q12. Supporting business and the environment. What actions will you take to help the Council promote environmentally sustainable jobs in the municipality and for businesses to reduce emissions in their operations?

Emma Burrows: Encourage businesses to adopt energy saving measures – efficient HVAC systems. Promote installation of solar panels through rebates/incentives and circular economy practises. Provide training programs for skill development in green industries, offer grants for green businesses that create sustainable jobs.

Q13. Food Security. How would you build community resilience and address food security in Merri-bek beyond the existing Merri-bek Food System Strategy 2024 – 2027 (PDF)? How do you think Council could further support culturally relevant and nutritionally rich food to diverse and vulnerable communities?

Emma Burrows: Employing residents as part of the food system strategy implementation will ensure that people receive culturally relevant and nutritionally rich foods. Provide targeted grants to areas with vulnerable communities, led by community. Supporting exisiting groups that have demonstrated impact in this area will maintain action while other more culturally relevant programs gain momentum.

Q14. Buildings, Biodiversity and Urban cooling: What would you do as a Councillor to ensure that with new building developments, Merri-bek residents have protection from overshadowing existing solar PV systems, and that Merri-bek has sufficient vegetation cover to contribute to biodiversity outcomes, urban cooling, and water sensitive urban design beyond existing policies in the Urban Forest Strategy (PDF), Merri-bek Nature Plan, and the Achieving Zero Carbon in the Planning Scheme – ESD Policy v2.0?

Emma Burrows: Ensure building codes stipulate better insulation, cool roofs and efficient air-con systems. Encourage sustainable development – with provisions for green spaces, appropriate drainage, avoiding overshadowing.

Q15. What are your top four priorities for the Council Plan, to be formulated for 2025-2029.

Emma Burrows:
1. Services for people in need, food security, support for older residents, youth services.
2. An active and safe community
3. Environment
4. Building trust, transparency and collaboration between council and community.

Q16. Democracy and representation: advocacy to State Government on multi-member wards versus single member wards. The state government has imposed single-member wards on Merri-bek against the recommendation of the council, the Local Government Association of Victoria, and even the Victorian Electoral Commission. This shift in electoral structure is an imposition by the parliament, not a choice of experts.

Do you support or oppose single-member wards?

If (re)-elected will you initiate and/or support measures to pressure the state government to return to multi-member wards?

Emma Burrows: Undecided on single member wards, undecided on multi-member wards
Comment: I understand there have been concerns regarding single member wards eroding democracy and I have researched these arguments. The smaller ward structure does enable the councillor to listen, consult and better represent their constituents. I encourage more dialogue around this issue and am open to new information.

Q17. Do you have any other comments on Climate Leadership and Advocacy by Council? Do you have any supplementary comments relating to the questions above, comments on other issues related to climate resilience and climate adaptation, or comments on making decisions for the whole municipality?

Emma Burrows: Skipped.

Stop Burning Plastic Pledge

The Stop Burning Plastic pledge not to burn waste. Merri-bek already has a Council policy not to use Waste to Energy Incinerators and to progress to zero waste to landfill by 2030. (see section 4.6.3 of Council Waste and Litter Strategy 2018) . Cleanaway is presently proceeding with an EPA Victoria development licence for a Waste to Energy Incinerator at Wollert. Signing this pledge commits to continuing present Council policy direction regarding sustainable circular economy waste management. Note: A week ago Minister for Climate Action and Energy Lily D’Ambrosio (Mill Park), Thomastown MP Bronwyn Halfpenny and Yan Yean MP Lauren Kathage supported the community in opposing Cleanaway’s Waste to Energy Incinerator. (Facebook Post) This is a statewide pledge:

For Westbreen ward Chloe Holmes and Emma Burrows supported this pledge as of 2 October.

Streets People Love Candidate Scorecard

The Streets People Love campaign has created scorecards for candidates in the 2024 council elections in Victoria. Scorecards have been generated based on a candidate’s engagement with the Streets People Love campaign, their commitment to our pledge, their responses to a survey and input from campaign members located in the local government area in which they are running. The local community groups running this scorecard in the City of Merri-bek are Walk on Merri-bek and Merri-bek Bicycle Users Group Inc.

Streets People Love Westbreen ward candidate Scorecard .

Waterways – Vote for Merri Creek

Friends of Merri Creek have surveyed candidates in all wards. The Merri Creek corridor is iconic and questions of sustainability, pollution and biodiversity should be a municipal wide concern to all candidates. The survey is focussed on Merri Creek, Edgars Creek and Coburg Lake, and neglects Merlynston Creek and Campbellfield Creek tributaries. It also ignores the importance of Moonee Ponds Creek and tributaries such as Westbreen Creek on the western side of the municipality, which may provide a reason why candidates from western wards like Djirri-Djirri and Pascoe Vale South did not respond to the survey.

See Friends of Merri Creek 2024 election guide for six Councils in the Merri Creek Catchment.

View the Candidate responses for Merri-bek wards (PDF) for candidate comments.

Q1: Are you concerned about the protection and restoration of the Merri Creek, Edgars Creek and Coburg Lake? If so, what concerns you the most? (100 word limit)

Q2: What action do you plan to take in your role as Councillor – if any – to increase waterway protection and restoration activities along the Merri Creek, Edgars Creek and Coburg Lake? (100 word limit)

Q3: Briefly outline how as a Councillor, you will respond to three of the following threats to the health of the Merri Creek, Edgars Creek and Coburg Lake: (75 word limit per threat)

• Development encroachment
• Pollution, litter and sediments carried by stormwater drains
• Illegal dumping and littering
• Spread of problematic weeds
• Loss, degradation and reduced connectivity of habitat
• Irresponsible pet ownership

References

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