Common ground: Greens candidates for the Sutherland Shire Council elections (from left) Naomi Waizer, Andrew Castle and Liam Wyatt.
THE Greens have put up three candidates for Sutherland Shire's council elections, campaigning on a platform of sustainable development, improving council transparency and strong opposition to coal seam gas mining.
The Greens' A ward candidate is Naomi Waizer, who has almost a decade's experience in local, state and federal politics, and is currently the deputy secretary of the Australian Greens.
Greens' candidate for B ward is Liam Wyatt, a third-generation Gymea resident who has consulted on digital strategy for a range of global organisations as a community leader for Wikipedia.
The Greens' E ward candidate is Andrew Castle, a youth and disability support worker in the shire.
"The Sutherland Greens will continue to lobby for all local development decisions to be returned to council's authority, having seen recent proposals for the Sharks, West Menai development and Kirrawee brick pit hijacked by the state government," Ms Waizer said.
"Applications must be assessed by Sutherland Shire Council without interference from the state government."
The Sutherland Greens candidates are also making council transparency a priority by proposing a new open-government resource that will draw all council services and data together in one central, easy-to-use online site and smart phone app.
"Shire residents would be able to track everything from local traffic conditions to the progress of development applications," Mr Wyatt said.
The Sutherland Greens are also strongly opposing coal seam gas (CSG) mining operations planned for the Woronora catchment area, and the coal seam gas exploration licence that runs throughout Sutherland Shire.
"CSG mining in the Woronora catchment area presents serious risks to our water supply," Mr Castle said.
"We plan to oppose it every step of the way."