Shopping trollies and sports facilities focus for Cr Floyd

Abandoned shopping trollies — recently-elected Orange City Councillor, Glenn Floyd believes — are a long-running issue that the Colour City needs to finally bite the bullet on.

Cr Floyd from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party would like to enact a plan proposed by former councillor Sam Romano that involved locking devices on all trollies if they are moved outside a specified CBD zone.

Cr Floyd is also keen, in the current council term, to see the sports precinct built at south Orange and also the proposed mountain bike trails approved for Mt Canobolas.

Taking over the top of the Shooters’ ticket from former Cr Romano, he said that his predecessor had some good, practical goals.

“Some of his legacies I would definitely like to carry on. I’d like to continue one resolution that he put up, and that is locking devices on shopping trollies, I think that’s a great idea, I really do,” Cr Floyd said.

“I just think it’s a bad look for the town, having them everywhere, and there is something that we can do about it, that’s a resolution I’d certainly like to see carried forward,” he added. 

Working at the Cadia Valley mine in the logistics and freight area, he, however, doesn’t believe that hailing from our district’s largest employer will have much bearing on his role.

“I don’t think so, there’s not much that I’d be able to vote on for matters to do with the mine; I can certainly understand issues that may come-up and  

I can certainly liaise between the two in that regard,” he explained.

Born and bred in Bathurst, this was not his first tilt at Council, having previously run in their local government elections before moving here eight years ago.

“I ran as a pure independent in Bathurst, I just think it’s important to give something back to the place I live in,” he said.

He became accidental top of the Shooters ticket after former councillor Romano relocated for his son’s sport’s career interstate. 

“I was number two on the ticket behind Sam Romano, but he left to move over to Western Australia,” Cr Floyd said, adding that he wanted to continue the Shooters’ emphasis on developing new facilities.

“The two main issues that we need to look at is making sure that sports stadium precinct is up-and-running and, secondly, getting the mountain bike park up and going at Mt Canobolas,” he said.

In his first-ever elected role, his first couple of Council meetings have certainly met his hopes: “It has been what I expected and more, you don’t know the impact you can have, until you are in the Chamber.”

He said that explaining issues better is one area that the new council can work on: “I think that openness and accountability is something we can push to be better at; I just think the last Council were a little closed in their communications,” he added.

Along with State Shooters’ Party local member, Phil Donato, he believes that now is the time that we need to be able to get back to our lives after two long years of COVID-19 restrictions, lockdowns, and quarantines.

“My personal opinion is ‘yes’ it’s time we get rid of all this and get back to normal as soon as possible, and that’s something that Council can certainly communicate to the State Government,” he concluded.