What do Greater Sydney’s council candidates really think? We asked all of them

The largest survey of council candidates across Sydney has revealed that protecting local heritage is the number one priority for many people hoping to be elected to local government. Housing was also highlighted as the most pressing issue affecting candidates’ local government areas.

Despite councils being the most popular level of government, it is difficult to access complete information about the people running for office. The Sydney Morning Herald attempted to contact all 1635 candidates in Sydney’s 34 councils to survey them on housing, development, rubbish collection, government accountability, and local traffic.

Click on your council area or search for it on the map below to read how candidates in your area responded:

When candidates were asked, “What are your biggest priorities on council?” and given a list of options, “preserving local heritage buildings and places of historic value” gathered the most boxes ticked first.

Heritage – and its connection to housing affordability – has become a lightning rod of debate in Sydney over the past year, as housing proponents place part of the blame for the city’s housing crisis on local governments’ obsession with heritage protection.

Roy Bendall, an independent candidate on the Make Mosman Better ticket, said the state government “imposing density targets on our community with no regard to heritage, planning, overshadowing and views” was the biggest issue in Mosman.

Adam Smith, running for the Strathfield Independents ticket, identified as “a local trad[i]e” campaigning to “ensure local council is not wasting money on overpriced contracts and works in our area”.

When asked to name the single biggest issue affecting their LGA, the candidates’ most common responses included housing (106 candidates), followed by development (101), roads (66), traffic (52), cost of living (31), and rates (28).

Rubbish collection (5), bikes (2) and climate change (13) were rarely mentioned.

New housing was most eagerly endorsed by Good for Manly, Liverpool Community Independents Team, Strathfield Independents and Peaceful Bayside candidates. The least enthusiastic about housing were the Libertarian Party (formerly Liberal Democrats), Your Northern Beaches Independent Team, Our Local Community, and the Liberals. All, however, were supportive of more development.

Local heritage preservation topped the list of concerns for candidates at 11 councils, namely Camden, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, Mosman, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, The Hills Shire, Waverley, and Woollahra.

Labor and Greens candidates were most likely to nominate heritage preservation as their priority, while Liberal candidates said fixing roads, rubbish collection and traffic congestion were their top issues. Independents mentioned integrity and improved community consultation more often than other concerns.

Penny Philpott, a candidate on the Your Northern Beaches Independent Team, said the single biggest issue on council was “party politics that hinders decision-making” and that she would fix it with “a change in attitude, where councillors work for their local community and not for political gain”.

Bayside and Blacktown were the only councils where candidates nominated improving roads, rubbish collection and traffic congestion as their number one priority.

Integrity and better community consultation were the top choices for candidates at six councils: Cumberland, Lane Cove, Randwick, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire and Willoughby.

In Greater Sydney, where local councils stretch from the Central Coast to Wollondilly, 33 political groups are running candidates (independents are counted as a single group). In all, 523 potential councillors – representing 27 of those parties and almost a third of all candidates – responded to the survey.

Independents were the most responsive to the survey, with 179 taking part. Labor candidates managed 102 responses, and 95 local and smaller community party representatives outnumbered the 78 Liberals and 68 Greens. More than 30 responses came from the Northern Beaches, North Sydney, Sydney City and Willoughby.

Despite this masthead’s best efforts, not a single council candidate in Hunters Hill – led by mayor Zac Miles – responded to the survey.

Election analyst and Tally Room founder Ben Raue says the rise of small local parties, most commonly seen in Sydney, will make it difficult for some voters to fully understand what choices they have at the ballot box.

“They call themselves independents, but they are a group of people who work together in places like Strathfield and Fairfield where Frank Carbone, who is not running a registered party but holds six seats on council is in an alliance with the Dai Le party which won three seats in 2021,” Raue said.

Some are a mechanism to help elect a single councillor, and adding name recognition by being listed at the top of the ballot. There are 17 such parties across the state and many have a realistic prospect of winning multiple seats in a council area, Raue said.

“Political parties are good because it simplifies the choice and it means you don’t need as much information when you face a ballot paper that is just a list of random names.”

Find your council candidates’ responses below:

• Bayside Council
• Blacktown City Council
• Blue Mountains City Council
• Burwood Council
• Camden Council
• Campbelltown City Council
• City of Canada Bay Council
• City of Canterbury-Bankstown Council
• Central Coast Council
• Cumberland City Council
• Fairfield Council
• Georges River Council
• Hawkesbury City Council
• Hornsby Council
• Hunters Hill Council
• Inner West Council
• Ku-ring-gai Council
• Lane Cove Council
• Liverpool City Council
• Mosman Council
• North Sydney Council
• Northern Beaches Council
• Parramatta City Council
• Penrith Council
• Randwick City Council
• City of Ryde Council
• Strathfield Council
• Sutherland Shire Council
• City of Sydney Council
• Hills Shire Council
• Waverley Council
• Willoughby City Council
• Wollondilly City Council
• Woollahra Council