FOUR months ago, the longest serving current Mildura councillor Mark Eckel was considering stepping aside at the coming election.
His displeasure with the ward system had him seriously examine retirement from local politics in October, but he said he’d pushed aside those views and will instead seek a sixth-straight council term.
Having spent 22 years in local government, this was the first election where he would need to select which ward to contest.
He said he would nominate as a candidate for Nowingi Place Ward, an area he doesn’t live in but has a strong affiliation with.
“I’ve got a long association with that particular ward,” Mr Eckel said.
“I raised my sons Damian, Matthew and Joshua in Euneva Drive, and they all went to St Paul’s School.
“I also also lived in Magnolia Avenue and went to Sacred Heart Primary in my younger years.”
He said he was eager to remain on council to ensure a continuity of experienced heads in the room, and listed a range of passion projects specific to Nowingi Place Ward.
They included plans to establish a five-star hotel and more housing at the Mildura Marina, collaborating with SuniTAFE and La Trobe University to engage international students and skilled labourers, and shifting the RV dump point and parking area from Benetook Avenue to the top of Nowingi Place.
“At the moment it sits out at in obscurity really in Benetook Avenue … that’s just ridiculous,” he said.
“It’s part of the policy that dumps be located in a prime area that is close to shops and tourism aspects, so that would be the ideal location for that.”
Mr Eckel had been a key figure in establishing the Mildura Day and Chaffey Festival events which debuted this year.
He also played a role in ongoing negotiations with 707 Operations Inc for future slow-rain visits to Mildura, including during the Melbourne Cup weekend, and when the Trail of Lights is established.
Mr Eckel said his long-standing background with marketing, promotion and events had paid dividends in this current council term.
“I was a great advocate for the restructure of council, also to bring the economic development and tourism under council,” he said
“I’ve seen it on its own, I’ve seen it independently, I’ve seen it in council previously too, and now we’re back in council.
“It’s started a new outlook for me from that respect.”
He said the council’s reinvigorated marketing direction of Tropical North Victoria and mildura.com had put the region in good stead, and he hoped to be re-elected to see what benefits the pivot would reap.
“The investment in that was very, very important, it can’t be understated,” he said.
Mr Eckel said he recognised that families were hurting with cost-of-living pressures, and said he would continue to advocate for reducing residential rates.
“We have to attract big corporate business to our municipality to contribute to the rate burden by residential (ratepayers),” he said.
“I’m sick of hearing the negativity on housing rates. It reflects poorly on us as a community when we need to be lifting the economic and tourism profile of Mildura as a destination.”
