BATHURST'S new mayor wants to start healing the divisions in council and get the ball rolling on more projects now that he is in the top job.
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From the first time he ran for council, back in 1999, Ian North knew that being a councillor was something he was meant to do.
He was elected in 2004, managing to stay on after the 2005 amalgamation that led to the formation of Bathurst Regional Council.
Since then, he has served as deputy mayor for 11 terms and now he can call himself the mayor of Bathurst.
It's a role Cr North hoped to achieve one day, that goal driven by a desire to serve the community he loves in the best way he can.
"I always said, my words were, 'It would be lovely if that happened'. To actually achieve it, it's an honour and it's quite humbling the fact tat you're the head, so to speak, of the community and working with other councillors to support that community," he said.
"I certainly don't take the job lightly, it's a massive job, and it's an absolute honour to hold that role."
His family, including wife Lisa, their children and his own mother, have told him how proud they are of him for being elected as mayor.
The one person missing from that list is his father, who died weeks before the 2008 council election.
Although not able to tell Cr North himself, his family have told him that he would be proud, and to Cr North, that is among the highest praise he could ever receive.
"My late dad encouraged me to run for council," he said.
"Dad always encouraged me to do my best. He said, 'You're not there to make friends, Ian, you're there to do a job', and I've always kept that in mind.
"I know at times people won't be happy with my decisions, but you've got to make decisions. It was another thing he said to me, 'You make a decision based on as much fact that you can possibly get, do your homework', and I've always done that and always kept an open mind going into council."
Cr North continues to carry that advice, and more, with him, including to listen to what others have to say.
He acknowledges that there has been some division among councillors in recent years, with that intensifying with the controversies of the go-kart track project and the allegations of bullying.
However, he wants to move forward and hopes to start that healing process over the remaining eight weeks of this council term.
"Next week, I'll get a message out to say to councillors 'If there's any issues, please come in and talk to me'. I'd really appreciate the face-to-face with COVID restrictions, I'd really like to do that," Cr North said.
He makes it no secret that, if re-elected as a councillor in September, he wants to be mayor again.
He plans to show his leadership style over the next eight weeks and begin the groundwork on new projects, with the hope of continuing them after the election.
Those projects include reinstating council's health committee to work with the community action group.
"Jess Jennings has been about it, and I'm exactly the same, I'd want to see that health group that council was a part of under Gary Rush and myself [reinstated], that's a bit of a priority for me," Cr North said.
"... I think as a council we have a lead role in the community and we need to have that committee."
His other priorities will be water security, advocating for the new private hospital, and improving roads.
He knows they will take a lot longer than eight weeks to achieve, but he hopes he will have at least laid the foundations for either himself or a new mayor to build on.
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