Sunshine Coast deputy mayor Rick Baberowski says he is looking forward to spending more time with his family, after a lengthy stint in council.
Cr Baberowski is set to retire from politics at the local government elections in March, bringing an end to his 12-year tenure as councillor for Division 1, which includes parts of greater Caloundra and the Glass House Mountains area.
“It’s time for me to make different, perhaps more freer choices,” he said via a statement.
“I am looking forward to having more time to work with my remarkable partner and family, while also better responding to the radiant energy and welcome demands of grandchildren.”
He said he was grateful to have played a significant role in the region.
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“It has been my incredible good fortune and privilege to have been able to help make a difference to the people and attributes of our region and I hope the community have seen that I have pushed hard at every possible opportunity,” he said.
“I want to thank the community, my fellow councillors and my extraordinary family for the incredible level of support I have had over my 12 fabulously cram-packed years in office.
“I’m proudly the arty councillor, but politics for me has always been about a pragmatic vision, standards and strategy leading to lots of results on the ground; to that end I’m pleased with the high-quality local parks, community facilities and placemaking projects that have been delivered during my three terms.
“I have done my level best to work with the community and staff to lock into the council’s powerful planning scheme, strong zoning and development controls that preserve the rural separation and character of our valuable country towns – that must be the greatest commitment from the next councillor.
“While preserving our country towns is critical, I have never hesitated to push and support the big region-making projects such as our solar farm, international runway, new city centre, data cable and more recently the Maleny ecological park and hinterland cultural facility. Acting together, these radically expand everyone’s life choices across the whole region now and in the future.
“I’ve tried to listen to as many voices in the community as possible but prepared to take a lead when needed. I hope that’s evident in my portfolio roles of transport, arts and heritage where, whilst there’s still much to be achieved, we have set up levies, policies and programs that other councils can only wonder at.
Mr Baberowski stressed that the Sunshine Coast is “a community of communities in the region of choice” and that every effort should be made to avoid urban sprawl.
“We must remain utterly determined to limit urban development to the capacity of our rural and natural environments,” he said.
Cr Baberowski also called for other levels of government to back the region, which is one of the fastest-growing in the country.
“We cannot continue alone and have reached a scale where it’s essential that the state and federal governments must meet their responsibilities to invest in the transport, housing and arts/conference infrastructure we need now,” he said.
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