Meet the Mayor – Blue Mountains’ Mark Greenhill

Mark
Greenhill has been a Blue Mountains City councillor for 17 years, seven of
which he has served as Mayor.

In 2016, Cr Greenhill was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to local government and to the Blue Mountains community. When not attending to council matters, he works in industrial relations in the corporate sector.

Blue Mountains Local Government Area covers 140,377 hectares, 74 percent of which consists of national park withing the world-heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains area. It comprises 27 towns and villages spread along 100km of mountainous terrain dividing Sydney and the NSW central west.

What drew you to
public service in local government?

Back in 1995 there was
a development application behind my dear mum’s house which I thought was
inappropriate. I might have been wrong about that, but that was what I was
thinking at the time.

My opposition to that
drew me into contact with council and that led to me seeking Labor pre-selection
and running and ultimately being elected.

It wasn’t a career
thing or anything like that. I already had another career … it was that I felt
that there was a “straying away” from appropriate development in my home in the
Blue Mountains.

It was literally a
commitment to appropriate development in what was and is a very sensitive
environment.

What does your typical mayoral working day look like?

In my time on council,
there have been two very significant bushfire events in the Blue Mountains. In 2013
we lost nearly 200 homes, and the 2019-20 fires affected over 80 percent of the
Blue Mountains National Park and destroyed over 20 homes.

When those things are happening,
your days are very atypical.

But a typical day would
be that I would get up very early, go into to my corporate day job in the city,
come back and then attend several meetings of an evening, and walk in the door
at 10pm or 10.30 at night, only to get up at 5.30 the next day and do it all
again.

Basically, I work nights
and weekends fulfilling my mayoral duties. But I am also on call so if anything
comes up during the day, our CEO is able to get me quickly and we can make
decisions together over the phone.

What aspect of the job do you like best of all?

My seven years of being
Blue Mountains mayor have been dominated by massive bushfire events and long and
drawn-out recovery processes.

Leading the recovery processes from those events, helping people put their lives back together, and seeing them resettled in their homes are the two most rewarding things from my time in local government.

The inspiration you
draw from communities in extremis – their unity of purpose and their individual
and collective bravery – that has been a very rewarding part of the job.

Are there any aspects of being mayor that you would
be happy to let go?

Facebook.

When I was first elected 1999, it didn’t exist. Social media is important and a very useful tool for communicating with the community. But you must be careful with social media to remember that not all of your constituents are on it.

It represents key
demographics, but not all demographics.

You cannot let social
media dominate good policy thinking, either, and this can happen if it distracts
your focus from socio-economic groups that are not on it or haven’t adapted to
it as others have.

You made the point earlier that the Blue
Mountains is vulnerable to bushfires.

Yes, it is the one of the
most bushfire prone communities in Australia. We’re a city within a World
Heritage Area surrounded on either side by deep forested ravines. It’s a very,
very bushfire-prone community.

So what can be done about future disaster
preparedness and mitigation when indications are the climate is becoming hotter
and drier?

Firstly, we have got
to recognise the climate change is real. And that means – and we learned this
with the 2019-20 fires, but also with the 2013 fires – we have got to be geared
up for fire seasons that are far more extreme than previous seasons.

We saw fires burning
against the wind in the last bushfire season in the Blue Mountains because the
climate was so extreme, so dry.

The conditions were such
that experienced firefighters had never seen anything like it before. So,
understanding that resourcing around bushfires has got to be far greater than
it ever has been. And to act on climate change.

In the short term, we must
gear up for fire seasons unlike any others we’ve faced. The longer-term
imperative is to urge governments to take action on climate change.

The coronavirus pandemic has
played havoc with council
finances. What can be done longer-term to
ensure local government funding
is adequate to provide the services residents, businesses and
communities
expect.

We went through the bushfires and straight into Covid-19. The Blue
Mountains is a wholly tourist-oriented economy, so the economic impact on our
community was severe.

Some rural economies have got tourism and agriculture. We are just tourism,
so we’re very exposed.

I would say
communities like ours have got to diversify a bit economically.

But when it comes to
recovery processes, my strong advice to federal and state governments is fund local
governments to create jobs.

If we are directly funded
to undertake agreed capital projects, we can use the fact that our overheads
are far lower than state governments to create jobs, particularly for younger
people, with apprenticeships and things like that.

Funding local government directly to undertake agreed capital works utilising our lower overheads can readily create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

The other thing about
funding local government directly is that local government is on the ground. We
understand where capital works can create the most bounce-off effect for other
economic activity.

Is there a particular project that you worked
on during your time on the Blue Mountains council that has brought your
particular satisfaction?

Oh yes. Absolutely. Our
local environment plan. The latest one is an awesome document, and I took great
pride in that.

Also, being part of
the council that assisted in bringing about the World Heritage listing. I was
standing there in the forest in Blackheath when the Commonwealth Government
declared us a World Heritage Area … those are two projects that I take a great
deal of delight from.

Would you recommend to other people serving on
local government?

I would. [But] I’d ask
them to go in with their eyes wide open.

You’re on duty 24/7,
and you don’t have your own private staff to support you like a Member of
Parliament would.

Presently in NSW, state governments are less supportive of local governments than was the case when I first entered the sector all those years ago, so don’t anticipate that you will  necessarily get the level of support you might hope for.

Overall, it’s a very rewarding experience and I would recommend it as long as people go in with their eyes are wide open.

One other point I would make is this: if you’re a would-be politician don’t see local government necessarily as a stepping stone. See it as important end in and of itself.

That is not say talented people in local government shouldn’t aspire to other levels, but please don’t see it solely as a career platform.

Do you have a favourite place you like to get
away to for recreation or to recharge the batteries?

There is nothing quite
like being on the edge of the Echo Point in the Katoomba area of the Blue
Mountains and watching the colours of the Three Sisters change as the sun goes
down. That’s a pretty awesome experience.

Other than that, time
with my beautiful children. That is the best pastime of all.