Council
7 August, 2026
Latest attack shows mayor’s disconnect with the community
Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan stood up at the most recent meeting of the Southern Highlands Community Forum and said she wanted a good working relationship with the councils in her electorate. She raised some legitimate concerns about the Bowral South New Living Area (NLA) and left it at that.
Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan stood up at the most recent meeting of the Southern Highlands Community Forum and said she wanted a good working relationship with the councils in her electorate.
She raised some legitimate concerns about the Bowral South New Living Area (NLA) and left it at that.
Now Wingecarribee mayor Jesse Fitpatrick has launched an extraordinary attack on the MP – possibly because she is a woman with a strong voice – and has basically called her untrustworthy.
Strange move from a mayor who should be working for the betterment of the shire and not picking fights with the people he should be fostering relationships with.
To cut a long story short, Mrs Hannan is wanting planning work on the Bowral South NLA stopped – primarily because it’s in a flood zone but there are some other fundamental issues as well.
Like the entire character of Bowral and how we want it to grow into the future.
A lot of people simply don’t want another 2000 homes tacked on the edge of a town already struggling with seemingly insurmountable infrastructure issues – unless we all want to suck up a monumental rate rise.
So, here’s what our slightly defensive Mayor had to say about a very hard-working and popular local MP – and let’s remember this is a guy who doesn’t like to be challenged.
You only have to sit through a council meeting to appreciate the fact that he is most comfortable when he is calling the shots and is happy to shut down debate in a manner that can only be described as an abuse of power and an embarrassment to good governance.
So, the Mayor says: “Judy Hannan MP has been extremely vocal about the Bowral South NLA, despite it having formed part of council’s planning strategies for more than seven years. Yet, all too often, her statements have failed to reflect the facts.
“Following her misleading statements in Parliament – statements that called into question the community’s trust in this council, I wrote to Ms Hannan with a detailed list of questions and invited her to substantiate her claims. Those questions remain unanswered.”
I wouldn’t have responded to his letter either. Besides being downright rude (perhaps the mayor can make it publicly available so I’m not the only one making a judgement call), the Member for Wollondilly has quite rightly pointed out that most of the questions are ones that council should be answering if it wanted to enter into some kind of sensible public discourse instead of getting all antsy.
Now here’s where our public representation falls completely apart.
The Mayor goes on to say – and I would love to know if he would make the same allegation against a male MP: “Ms Hannan has questioned whether the community can trust council.
“I now call into question whether the community can trust Mrs Hannan to present the facts accurately and responsibly.”
This coming from a guy who consistently bullies female councillors in the chamber and is consistently pushing a rate rise that nobody wants – but who realises that his legacy will amount to zip without it. Well, actually, it will probably amount to zip with it because we will just be getting some basics. Just take a look at some of the building projects in Wollondilly and Yass and ask yourself ‘How did it get to this point? Where did it go wrong?’ Or more importantly who is being held responsible for a financial disaster that we are being told isn’t really a financial disaster. No wonder council fought so vehemently against an independent finance committee.
The Mayor has also accused Ms Hannan of standing in floodwater “nowhere near the Bowral South NLA, posing for a photograph and then using that image to create fear and mislead the community is not responsible representation, it is a political stunt.”
Hang on a minute, who’s talking about responsible representation?
“I call on Ms Hannan to explain to the community why she chose to present the issue in this way, why she has failed to answer the questions put to her and why she allowed a misleading impression to remain uncorrected,” the Mayor said.
“The community deserves facts, not fearmongering and political theatre.”
The photo was initially placed on council’s website but has since been removed.
Maybe if the mayor had turned up to the last meeting of the Southern Highlands Community Forum there could have been an interesting discussion.
He didn’t, despite drawing a very healthy income from the public purse.
I think we should expect more from our political leaders.
I’m all for our councillors and politicians having private lives and getting the opportunity to spend time with their families.
But this is one of the biggest issues facing not only Bowral but the Southern Highlands for years, if not decades to come.
You want to be Mayor? You want to get paid more than most Southern Highlanders on top of what you earn privately (despite your assertions made in council that you are not a builder or a property developer?) Turn up, say what you think in a public forum and earn some respect on the issues that matter instead of trying to sell a proposed rate rise that nobody wants, nobody can afford and just lumps the ratepayers of today with the responsibility for financial problems years in the making.
I guess it’s a question of simple priorities. There seems to be a marked difference between yours and ours.
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