Hi, I’m Danielle Wheeler and I’ve been the Greens Councillor on Hawkesbury City Council since 2016. I’m a community activist, scientist and permaculture practitioner living on Boorooberongal land. I am the current chair of the Heritage Committee and a member of the Community Services and Environment Committees. I am one of two Council representatives on the Hawkesbury River Country Council, which conducts weed management across the Hawkesbury and neighbouring Councils.
My work on Council has resulted wetlands protection, the stunning murals in Windsor Mall, business supports during COVID and beyond, greater speaking rights for community members, support for marriage equality and transgender people, free rent for The Women’s Cottage, showers for homeless people, wetlands protections, 100% renewable power, 2030 zero emissions targets, urban tree planting projects, and a review of the Companion Animal Shelter that means that more than 97% of all dogs are now safely rehomed.
I want the Hawkesbury to continue to be a place of great natural beauty, heritage and agriculture, where we can live good lives. I want our community to celebrate our diversity and face the future with resilience and hope. We need to all work together to protect our environment and heritage from threats of over-development, increasing heat, sand mining, and inappropriate and ill-thoughtout infrastructure projects. I will continue to work to bring our town centres back to life, protect our wetlands, rivers and bushland, make Council more consultative, and deliver the infrastructure our community needs.
I believe we need well-planned evacuation routes to ensure we can get in and out of the Hawkesbury safely everyday, especially during floods and fires. I believe we need better managements of our river banks and riparian zones to protect biodiversity and property, and I believe the NSW planning system needs a serious overall to put councils and local communities back in control and stop the Hawkesbury being sacrificed to urban sprawl and the runoff that results in floods and destruction. I want Council to act as a leader to provide a safe future for all of us.
The Greens and I have big plans for the Hawkesbury: better active transport links; platypus-friendly planning; experts, First Nations, young people and community members on all Council committees; shaded parks; free vouchers to local pools; FOGO collection; zero waste events; urban heat mitigation; disaster preparedness; and genuine affordable housing targets. I’ll continue to work hard to deliver all these and more.