BENNET NICHOL
Jim Eldridge is one of two independent candidates running for the 2016 mayoral Brisbane City Council election this Saturday. Eldridge has academic qualifications including a Masters of Administrative Policy, stemming into a personal career in public policy and intellectual property law.
Eldridge’s mayoral campaign is centred on three broad policy areas, “fixing Brisbane’s alcohol problems,” “increasing the safety of our homes and community,” and “sensible transport and planning development.”
The candidate details a set of strategies within each of these three broad policy areas that specify how and why he intends to address these key points.
A focus on alcohol regulation and cultural reform provides a key point of difference in Eldridge’s campaign, as the lead Liberal and Labor frontrunners concentrate their efforts on debating Brisbane’s public transport infrastructure.
Eldridge plans on removing all alcohol advertisement from council assets such as busses, alongside attempts to “facilitate a cultural shift” in regards to Brisbane’s drinking culture.
Secondly, under the banner of “increasing the safety of our homes and community,” Eldridge plans to roll out a set of smaller policies centred on the maintenance of homes and public safety.
His policies include a subsidy for private ceiling asbestos removal, a voluntary council-run safety check on residential decks and stairs, fencing of council parks, an increase in speed limit signs in residential areas, and safer crossings for schools and public transport connections.
In his third policy area, “sensible transport and planning development,” Eldridge addresses both the LNP’s Graham Quirk and Labor contender Rod Harding’s large-scale public transport infrastructure project policies.
Titled “no more ego-driven and expensive infrastructure projects,” Eldridge aims to create a point of difference between himself and the front running Liberal and Labor candidates by focusing on “smaller, more sensible projects.” His ideas include removing parking on the curb of key roads, potential alterations to the Brisbane City Plan 2014, and smaller changes to public transport routes.
