By Ethan Benedicto
A vision of harmony and peace, with proper representation of the people and governance of equal footing and eye level with no backdoor passages, is the future Lynette Pereira envisions for River Gum Ward.
With candidate nominations closing on Tuesday 17 September, Pereira has pledged to lead the suburbs of Hampton Park, Lynbrook and sections of Cranbourne North down a path of honesty and truth.
Having been a previous councillor from 2008 to 2012, she harbours the experience to tackle the role and bring back that sense of togetherness.
“[The Ward] has been totally ignored, Hampton Park is the biggest suburbs and the shops are an absolute mess,” she said.
“The sense of community is lost, there is so much money that needs to be put back into this ward, we’ve been so neglected.”
She criticised the previous councillors – those who were dismissed in 2020 amid an IBAC investigation – adding that “they didn’t actually pay attention to what they should have been doing”.
“And that’s keeping our rates down, making sure the ward’s getting its money and attention is being paid.”
Having left the Greens party in 2014, Pereira is an independent, and a ward local for over 38 years, Pereira said she is more than aware of what it is that needs to be done.
However, she has found it difficult to prioritise, saying that “I’m a person that cares about everything”.
“Community safety is really important, so is better lighting, better signage – there used to be a neighbourhood house around here, but people don’t tend to get involved anymore so I want to build a sense of community.
“This is really important to me, things like having our multicultural festival to break down those barriers, we have a lot of different ethnicities here that tend to stay to themselves.
“I want to have functions and events where people can come together as a local community.”
With venues such as the Arthur Wren Hall and the River Gum Performing Arts Centre, Pereira wants to have a “community panel of musicians and artists” that works with schools and local groups for events such as open mic nights and public performances.
By the same token, a public community kitchen is also in her sights, much like Meals on Wheels, but a “proper community kitchen where we can offer cheap meals for people who are struggling and need food, especially in these hard times”.
Domestic violence is also another topic Pereira is passionate about, a topic which she has been a strong voice for in her previous tenure in council, saying that “women need to have that voice, we need to be heard”.
“One of the biggest reasons was to show my kids and all their friends that they can all do it too, I want to make it so it’s not out of reach for people to think that they can’t participate in civic duties, to care about what’s going on in the community.
“I want to see more young women put their hands up for these kinds of things,” she said.
On the topic of fostering the youth, she also had visions for a youth council to be implemented, one that would support and work in conjunction with the councillors themselves.
Through goodwill, communication, and the passion to stand up for doing the right thing, Pereira says she is looking forward to leading River Gum Ward in a prosperous direction, one filled with good governance and harmonious communities.
