Ward 73 councillor Eleanor Huggett believes she has settled well in the suburb she has now been working in as councillor for just over a year.
She took over the ward that she believed to be somewhat unstable last year, but the journey to understanding her role as the counsellor has not been without a couple of speed bumps.
“Residents were initially extremely stressed about the changes in leadership and needed to know that someone was around to hear their cries,” said Hugget.
“I spent much of my initial few months building relationships and in return the community, and particularly the residents associations, who have been fantastic at supporting me with issues, providing me with information and protecting me when I received threats when trying to deal with the issue of hijacked houses,” said Huggett, also praising Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck for his support in assisting her to set up a newsletter to keep residents up to date on issues in the ward.
Ward 74 includes parts of Killarney, Houghton and Oaklands areas which fall under the distribution of the Rosebank Killarney Gazette.
Huggett assumed the role of councillor following a long career in education, having trained preschool teachers and taught in early childhood development centres.
“I had become disillusioned with what was happening in the country and wanted to play an active role in resolving issues. My biggest grief was seeing what was happening to education. We should have been seeing a generation of educated adults ready to run the country, but instead there was a lost generation,” she said.
When she isn’t escalating complaints, Huggett enjoys cycling, birding and walking her dogs. She is also particularly interested in environmental issues, having worked hard in the past few months to uplift parks in the area, including Paterson Park and Norwood Park.
According to Huggett, some prevalent issues in the area include the profusion of displaced people living in parks, the increase in drugs on Louis Botha Avenue, illegal liquor outlets and places of worship.
“I really appreciate residents who log issues so that they can be escalated. There is still a huge infrastructure backlog, but I encourage people to be patient.
“I look forward to getting the issues on Louis Botha Avenue sorted out as well as the illegally hijacked buildings and getting parks upgraded and completed. Whatever happens, I will not give up on getting those issues resolved.”
Details: eleanorhuggett@gmail.com
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