General News
21 September, 2024
A younger perspective
LUKE Preston has entered the race to become a councillor at next months election, saying he wants to influence projects that will serve Ararat for future generations.
LUKE Preston has entered the race to become a councillor at next months election, saying he wants to influence projects that will serve Ararat for future generations.
Born and bred in Ararat, he told the Advocate this week council needs to be a mix of youth and experience.
“There is no young voice on council. I moved away from Ararat for a few years and then came back home where I realised Ararat has a lot of potential. There are a big handful of things that just need a bit of a push,” he said.
“There are some councillors who are making decisions that probably will see their lifetime out.
“A lot of my close friends are small business owners, have moved away them come back to town, we’ve got two, three, four year old kids, so decisions the council makes now will affect our kids and their kids.”
Mr Preston said council has clearly improved in recent years.
“I think it is always getting better. I think there is good and bad with everything and it is hard to keep everyone happy. But I think the council has definitely done a good job. You just need to look at the skate park, the dog park, the Gordon Street Reserve, they’re definitely doing a good job but I just think it wouldn’t hurt to have some younger ideas of what younger people want as well,” he said.
As a small business owner, Mr Preston would like to be part of a strategy to rejuvenate small business and improve Ararat’s business district.
“The look of the main street is terrible. There are rows of three and four shops empty with boards over them.
“I know we are if a recession but we can’t let that consume our great town and let it stop people opening businesses.
“We can still push forward and the locals need to support every new and existing local business especially in our main street,” he said.
He’s also supportive of new development around Ararat to build population and employment.
“A lot of locals aren’t happy with certain infrastructure getting pushed ahead in town but what they don’t realise is that’s bringing people to town which is creating jobs. If no one moves to Ararat, those empty shops won’t fill up and every year there will be more and more empty shops.
“People drive up that main street heading to Halls Gap, we’ve got to work out what those people want to stop for while driving through,” he said.
Mr Preston said he wants to be a voice on council for young people and families.
“There’s a lot of people my age who live here with young families and we all want the same thing. A better Ararat.”