Meet Your Councillors

Committee membership

Member of Audit and Risk Management Advisory Committee, NAIDOC Week Community Committee chair, Companion Animals Community Committee, Orange & Cabonne Road Safety Community Committee, Sister Cities Community Committee, OCC representative on: JOC (formerly CENTROC), Association of Mining Related Councils, TDO Ltd, Civic Risk Mutual, Ronald McDonald House, Orange.

Committee membership

Cultural Heritage Community Committee chair, Member of Australia Day Community Committee, NAIDOC Week Community Committee, Orange Regional Museum Community Committee, Tidy Towns Community Committee. OCC representative on: Biz (Business) HQ, TDO Limited.

Committee membership

Finance Policy Committee chair, Orange Conservatorium & Planetarium Community Committee chair, Orange Showground Community Committee chair, Tidy Towns Community Committee chair. Member of Audit and Risk Management Advisory Committee, Orange & Cabonne Road Safety Community Committee, Orange Conservatorium & Planetarium Community Committee, Sister Cities Community Committee. OCC representative on: JOC (formerly CENTROC), Association of Mining Related Councils. Alternative representative on Joint Regional Planning Panel.

Committee membership

Infrastructure Policy Committee chair, Member of Airport Advisory Committee chair, Lucknow Community Committee chair, Member of Economic Development Community Committee, Floodplain Risk Management Community Committee, Spring Hill Community Committee chair. OCC representative on: Orange Rail Action Group.

Profession

Retailer

About Jack

Born and Bred in the Central West, Jack Evans is 4th generation member of the Evans family to work in the family retail business. After spending three years completing his degree at the University of Wollongong, Jack returned to Orange in 2018 to work in the family business full time.

Jack is continually learning from generations of small business experience passed down through the family and is a firm believer in the strengths of independent businesses and their ability to adapt and thrive in challenging times.

Jack has a deep passion for Orange and the Central West Region and hopes to see it grow and prosper.

Why did you stand for Council?

I have a passion for the Orange Community that my family has been a part of for generations. I want to see Orange develop sustainably while implementing and improving amenities to cope with growth.

What do you want to achieve?

I want to see Orange continue to cement itself as the regional centre for the Central West, attracting business opportunities that will keep our economy healthy through any challenging circumstance.

I do not want to see the city overdeveloped but allow for the greater orange region to grow through improved transport infrastructure and connectivity to the major cities and surrounding regions. This will allow people to interact with the orange economy without the need to reside within the city.

Hear more about Cr Jack Evans

Cr Jack Evans was interviewed for ‘The Orange Podcast’. Check out that interview here.

Image courtesy of Jack Evans

Committee membership

Floodplain Risk Management Community Committee chair. Member of Orange Conservatorium & Planetarium Community Committee, Sport & Recreation (inc. Bicycling) Community Committee, Tidy Towns Community Committee.

Profession

Miner

About Glenn

Miner for 12yrs. Father of two girls. Lived locally for 46yrs, born and bred in Bathurst. Schooled at St Stanislaus College where I was a college prefect in Yr 12. Appointed as a Justice of The Peace in 2002. Keen sportsman, fisherman, camper and hunter. Joined the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party in 2018.

Why did you stand for Council?

I stood for council firstly and fore-mostly to give back to the community in any way I could. I wanted to forge a plan that would give my children the best chance of success when they are ready.

I believe Orange has so much potential and I wanted to be part of opening up those opportunities. I also believed Orange council needed some fresh faces and a new way forward. Being open and honest is a big part of who I am.

What do you want to achieve?

I would like to achieve a viable and well-respected sports precinct in orange that will benefit the whole community. I would also like to see the opening up of Mt Canobolas to a world-class Mountain Bike facility while keeping the heritage and cultural significance of the mount intact. My goal is to also see a sustainable water supply for Orange over the next 10 yrs and beyond, while also giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy fishing and social activities at these venues. A viable and well connected Mental Health culture in Orange is also something I will be working towards.

Image courtesy of Glenn Floyd

Committee membership

Sport and Recreation Policy Committee chair, Sport & Recreation (inc. Bicycling) Community Committee chair, Member of Airport Advisory Committee, Australia Day Community Committee, Community Safety & Crime Prevention Community Committee, Economic Development Community Committee, Orange Showground Community Committee.

Profession

Regional Business Development Executive

About Tammy

Born and bred in Orange, Tammy attended Glenrothes Heights Public School before relocating to Mudgee, then Sydney and the Central Coast. Tammy returned back to the colour city in 2002 after marrying her husband Jason and it became clear that Orange was home.

Soon after, they started their family, having two boys who grew up with a love for the outdoors and a passion for rugby league and other sports including touch football, cricket, basketball, Little Athletics, water skiing, and Cricket.

Tammy has held a position on the executive of Bloomfield JRLFC for the past 11 years, and more recently a member of the Orange City Junior Cricket Club, and a volunteer at Ronald McDonald House. This year she was named NSW Regional Volunteer of the Year.

Tammy has worked at several local businesses and is currently employed as a Regional Business Development Executive in the hospitality industry.
She is keen to bring energy, enthusiasm, innovation and a female perspective to the Orange City Council through community engagement, with a strong focus on families, and developing Orange as a sporting and recreation hub.

Tammy is also driven to see better community support for juvenile mental health facilities and programs like the Resilience Project that is high in demand for today’s generation. She has a strong passion to develop a chapter of The Compassionate Friends Group for bereaved parents and families in Orange after losing he eldest son Harry in 2020 in a water skiing accident and finding that she had to travel to Parkes to attend the service at Christmas.

Tammy believes it is important that Orange keeps moving in a positive direction as a cultural hub, to provide diversity and inclusion for people from all walks of life.

Why did you stand for Council?

I stood for Council to be an open and honest link between the people in our community and the council, and feed back what the concerns are for the average family in our community. To provide a female, working mother’s perspective and to give back to the community that has given me so much.

To ensure that Orange is an inspiring place for young families and ensure that we provide jobs and opportunities for our children to enable them to continue to call Orange home without having to relocate to larger cities like Sydney because we are not proving the opportunities for them. To also ensure we have a community that we feel safe in, a community that cares and provides for the elderly and disabled along with our indigenous community members.

What do you want to achieve?

I want to see the Sports Stadium Complete, along with the other big-ticket items. I want to see that our community understands what it costs for us to maintain our level of service for roads and rubbish and how that affects our rates. I want to ensure the CSP is achievable and relevant to what our community wants.

To ensure that we work within our limits so we can provide the most affordable housing strategy that we can to ensure the great Australian dream of owning your own home is not obsolete. To be confident that the water plan is adequate for our growing population and that we are working towards becoming a more energy-efficient community. Most importantly to maintain the great culture that we have where everyone feels inclusive no matter what their background is.

Committee membership

Clifton Grove Community Committee chair. Alternative member of Audit and Risk Management Advisory Committee. Member of Ageing and Access Community Committee, Airport Advisory Committee, Economic Development Community Committee, Orange Health Liaison Community Committee, Orange Showground Community Committee, Spring Hill Community Committee chair. OCC representative on: Orange Business Chamber, Orange Rail Action Group.

Profession

Community Pharmacist

About Frances

I am a community pharmacist & diabetes educator. I have lived in Orange for 36 years and owned my pharmacy for 31 years. My husband and I have 3 adult children, one of whom lives in Orange (the other 2 are in Sydney). I grew up in Newcastle with my 7 siblings, went to university in Sydney & then moved here. We live on the western edge of Orange with our 15-year-old dog, 4 chooks, and 5 alpacas.

I have been a Justice of the Peace for many years, and am very passionate about community health. I enjoy walking, reading and knitting.

Why did you stand for Council?

Orange City Council first really came to my attention during a protracted and frustrating planning application process, when attempting to extend the size of our pharmacy building. I started to watch the live-streamed council meetings & realised that Orange could really benefit from a broader range of councillor types.

I’m lucky in that I get to interact with many local people every day, and effective communication is something I need to be good at in order to do my job well. Helping people is also a core desire in any health professional. I thought I may be able to try and do things to benefit Orange.

What do you want to achieve?

I’d like to ensure that we really listen to people, and genuinely acknowledge their input & ideas. I’d like to work effectively with the other councillors to achieve what’s best for Orange, in a way that’s honest, transparent and genuinely progressive.

I’d like to see the basics done well, and I’d like to be able to advocate to address more major issues like housing affordability.

Health is really important to me and local pursuit of policies that improve community health is a priority. I’m not at all interested in political carry-on & would like to see efficiency, care, and commonsense prevail.

Committee membership

Services Policy Committee chair, Parks, Trees & Waterways Community Committee chair. Member of Ageing and Access Community Committee, Economic Development Community Committee, Environmental Sustainability Community Committee, Lucknow Community Committee, Orange Health Liaison Community Committee, Orange Conservatorium & Planetarium Community Committee, Sport & Recreation (inc. Bicycling) Community Committee. OCC representative on: City of Orange Traffic Committee, Orange Regional Arts Foundation, Orange Rail Action Group.

Profession

Registered Nurse

About Melanie

I’ve lived in Orange for most of my life.

I attended St Mary’s and Calare, before receiving a scholarship to attend Kinross Wolaroi. After finishing school, I completed my Nursing degree at CSU Albury then moved to Sydney where I worked at Westmead Hospital in Recovery, Cardiothoracic and Intensive Care Units. After 4 years of ‘city’ life, I returned to Orange.

In the 10 years since I returned home, I’ve been an active member of Council’s Environmental Sustainability Community Committee. This experience gave me the opportunity to see, firsthand, many achievements of our Council, as well as some areas which could be improved.

Music has been a fundamental part of my life since childhood, whether teaching, composing or playing with various ensembles, it brings joy to my life like no other. I’ve been Principal Bassoonist with Orange Symphony Orchestra for 5 years now.

I’ve been a Registered Nurse for over 15 years, with experience working in both public and private health systems. I’ve been a Delegate for the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, which further developed my advocacy skills and showed me the importance of collective bargaining and worker’s rights. For the last few years, I have been working as a Practice Nurse for a local private practice.

To date, however, my most challenging and rewarding role continues to be as a mother to my amazing young son who is my pride and inspiration.

Why did you stand for Council?

“Be the change you wish to see in the world”

I stood for Council because since returning to Orange a decade ago, I’ve seen how successive Councils did not properly represent our community in terms of our diversity. Women make up 51% of our population and our Council should represent this.

After years of advocating and acting from the sidelines, I decided it was time that I step up and put my name forward.

I’m so proud to be a member of the most diverse Council in our city’s history, and I can’t wait to see what we as a Council can achieve for all members of our community.

What do you want to achieve?

Where to start… Given this current term of Council is far shorter than usual, my wish list is ambitious.

• An all-weather, all-ages playground accessible to all members of the community;
• Continue the installation of footpaths around the city – every street should have a footpath on one side at least;
• Upgrade all existing playgrounds – shade sails, regular maintenance, and updates to equipment;
• Continue to drive our city to a sustainable and renewable future; identifying and seizing all economic opportunities for Net Zero 2030;
• Protection and enhancement of our amazing natural assets;
• Addressing availability of affordable housing in and around Orange;
• Respect and protection of our local Indigenous heritage;
• and in general, represent the people of Orange with dignity and respect, to the best of my ability.

Committee membership

Environmental Sustainability Policy Committee chair, Companion Animals Community Committee chair, Environmental Sustainability Community Committee chair. Member of Cultural Heritage Community Committee, NAIDOC Week Community Committee, Parks, Trees & Waterways Community Committee.

Committee membership

Employment and Economic Development Policy Committee chair, Community Safety & Crime Prevention Community Committee chair, Economic Development Community Committee chair, Spring Hill Community Committee chair, OCC representative on: City of Orange Traffic Committee.

Committee membership

Ageing and Access Community Committee Chair, Orange Health Liaison Community Committee chair, Orange Regional Museum Community Committee chair. Member of Clifton Grove Community Committee.

Profession

Doctor

About Steven

I’m 36 years old and have been a doctor for 11 years, husband for 10, father for 8 and had quadriplegia for 4. These experiences have taught me many lessons which I hope to bring to Council as a fresh perspective.

My father was an army officer so I moved often in my childhood, being born in Hong Kong, attended high school in China and lived in a variety of places around Australia. I met my wife at the ANU medical school and we did our early years of work in Darwin, far north Queensland and the Kimberley. Orange is my wife’s hometown so we returned in 2014 to raise our family. We have two young children and live on a cattle farm on the outskirts of town with a dog and a cat!

I am a doctor and work in 2 telehealth roles providing clinical support for small emergency departments in regional New South Wales. I am also the doctor at the local drug and alcohol detox & rehab. I am on the clinical governance committee with Live Better in town and have education roles with the GP college, a GP training provider and the University of Sydney’s Orange clinical school.

I have a history of community service with 5 years as a scout leader, 3 years on the local St Vinnies night van, the volunteer gameday doctor with 3 different sporting teams, and roles with various University, social and Church groups. Before Council, I was involved in fundraising for spinal cord injury research and seeking grants for the Orange Mountain bike club.

Why did you stand for Council?

In 2018 I was hit by a car whilst riding my bicycle to work at the Orange emergency department and sustained quadriplegia amongst other injuries. I had to reassess how I could contribute to my community now being unable to do the physical volunteer work that I used to do. I also felt that being a younger man, a medical doctor and having a serious disability was an unusual combination. I could thus bring something different to council than what was already represented there.

I have a variety of links throughout Orange. I have done many years of work at the Orange Aboriginal medical service, CSU and Orange hospital in addition to my current employment. I am part of the Orange Evangelical church as well as Orange’s Catholic Church. I am active with the Friday night gaming and the Orange mountain bike clubs. I have two school-aged children. I feel in touch with the community and believe I can represent them well.

I do love this town and want Orange to be the best it can be. I want Orange to be a place that my children choose to stay here when they are adults. Furthermore, I feel my personal and professional background allows me to make a particular contribution, different to my fellow councillors, and that I should take this opportunity to do so.

What do you want to achieve?

There are specific things that I would like to raise in council.

As a wheelchair user, I have specific ideas regarding access to local shops and Cook & Robinson parks. I have a particular awareness of the difficulties presented by cracked footpaths and potholed roads. Roads and footpath quality is a concern frequently raised by the community and I want to make sure Council does not get distracted by higher-profile issues at the expense of these basic essentials.

The next drought will occur with many thousands more people living in Orange and potentially less water. Every council will need to expand water capture and storage as the population continues to grow. This council is no exception and I want to ensure proactivity on this issue.

Orange can boast some of the closest snow to Sydney. Mt Canobolas is a tourist attraction, but winter access is limited. I want to investigate what we can do with Cabonne Council to improve access to Mount Canobolas.

As Orange continues to grow Council needs to be proactive to make sure corners are not cut by developers. Council needs to ensure that adequate footpaths, road infrastructure and parks are essential components of development.

Those issues I would like to champion, but many other issues will come out of the blue in a coronavirus-like fashion. I want to be a hard-working, sensible and humble councillor who will strive for what I feel is best for Orange.

Hear more about Cr Steve Peterson:

Cr Steve Peterson was interviewed in a recent episode of ‘The Orange Podcast;’ – Hear that interview here.

Committee membership

Planning and Development Policy Committee chair, Member of Airport Advisory Committee, Community Safety & Crime Prevention Community Committee, Cultural Heritage Community Committee. OCC representative on: Association of Mining Related Councils, Joint Regional Planning Panel.