Lithgow's Martin Ticehurst to run for seat of Bathurst as an independent

Former councillor and deputy mayor of Lithgow City Council, Martin Ticehurst, has announced his intention to contest the election, hoping to unseat incumbent Paul Toole.

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Mr Ticehurst spent 17 years on the Lithgow council, though his local government career ended in controversy.

Mr Toole was the state's Minister for Local Government when the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal suspended the then deputy mayor Ticehurst for five months in late 2016 due to misconduct following a heated Lithgow council meeting.

It was his seventh suspension and it triggered a five-year disqualification from holding civic office under new "three strikes" laws introduced by the Mike Baird government.

Mr Ticehurst vehemently denied the allegations against him in that matter - including that he had called the mayor a "bitch" - and had referred back in 2013 to a "witch hunt" against him by the Lithgow council.

Prior to his time in local government, Mr Ticehurst was a NSW Police Sergeant in Lithgow, and remains in the city, where he now works with Service NSW.

He thinks it's time to end the Nationals' hold on the electorate and says he is ready to stand against Mr Toole.

"I'm absolutely delighted to be the first independent candidate in the Bathurst state seat for 12 years to stand against the incumbent MP, state Nationals leader and Deputy Premier, Paul Toole," he said.

"I am well and truly up for this campaign and, like many voters across the Bathurst electorate, looking forward to seeing the end of his state Coalition government."

He said the government had, over the past term, been embroiled in "internal party infighting and repeatedly, and unashamedly, involved in ICAC criticised pork-barrelling of hundreds of millions of dollars across NSW".

Mr Ticehurst, who said party politics in NSW is in complete chaos, claims he can do more for the Bathurst electorate as an independent.

"With nearly every political pundit, journalists, bookmakers and even a Sunday Telegraph poll confirming that the current state Liberal/Nationals Coalition government will be well and truly defeated in March, particularly after Premier Perrottet's recent birthday party uniform gaffe, any election of Paul Toole will only see him having more time to spend on updating his social media posts whilst warming the Opposition backbench seats in the NSW Parliament House," he said.

"However, given that the same political pundits, journalists and bookmakers are also suggesting that a new parliament will most certainly be controlled by an ever-increasing list of elected Independents from right across NSW, my election as a true Independent for the state seat of Bathurst will allow me with a much greater opportunity to achieve far more community optimism and business growth across the many towns and villages in the Bathurst electorate over the next four years."

Mr Ticehurst has not revealed his policy agenda yet, but said in the lead up to pre-polling he will release several public policies that will seek to provide substantial financial benefits to both the Bathurst electorate and across NSW.

Currently, the only two confirmed challengers to Mr Toole for the seat of Bathurst are Mr Ticehurst and the Labor candidate, Cameron Shaw.

The Greens and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers parties have both said they will be running candidates, but have yet to name who they will be.

The election is due to be held on March 25, 2023.

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