Ballina Shire people profile: Don Page
Welcome to the first of our Ballina Info profiles on local people. We thought we would kick off the profiles with the man who represents us in State Parliament, Member for Ballina Don Page . . .
Name: Don Page.
Occupation: Member of Parliament, macadamia grower.
Do you have any hobbies?
Tennis, cricket, rugby, horse riding, community activities.
How long have you lived in the Ballina area?
21 years.
What do you like most about living here?
The beauty of the area and the friendly, interesting people.
What are your favourite places in the area?
Shelly Beach and the River Street waterfront.
What are the major problems facing Ballina?
Heavy vehicles through the town; ensuring quality public services keep pace with population growth; ensuring we don’t spoil the environmental integrity of the area; making sure we have appropriate developments; and enabling our young people to find employment in our area.
What’s your vision of Ballina in the year 2050?
My vision is that we create a sustainable future for our community. This involves creating employment, whilst protecting the beauty and environmental integrity of our area. It is not a case of jobs or the environment — it is a case of jobs and the environment.
We must learn from the mistakes of others and have faith in our ability to maintain quality lifestyle in the face of increased population growth.
We also need to plan our growth to ensure that our community is well served in health, education, transport, policing and natural resource management.
This involves getting our fair share of funding from State and Federal governments and ensuring that Local Government can respond to local community needs.
We should make our area family friendly, encourage harmonious relationships, tolerance and an outward looking approach to new ideas.
(Do you know someone Ballina Info should profile? Contact us and we’d be only too happy to do so.)
