Rochelle a surprise council winner

Rochelle Halstead arguably pulled off the biggest coup of this year’s Bass Coast Shire council elections.

A relative newcomer – who has lived in San Remo for just three years and who by her own admission has “limited community contacts” – ousted popular councillor Geoff Ellis to run second in Westernport Ward, behind Bruce Kent and ahead of long-time favourite Clare Le Serve.

So how did she pull it off?

“I think I listened to the community,” Rochelle says, adding she has already been lobbied hard by residents wanting a Grantville supermarket, and others concerned about the proposed new airfield at Bass.

“The downside of being elected is that an established councillor dropped off, so it’s a double-edged sword.”

Most surprisingly, the 51-year-old mother-of-five at the start of 2020 wasn’t even considering a tilt at local politics.

So why stand?

Rochelle says “the fire in the pit of her belly” was ignited by no less than the building of a private home near hers during Covid lockdown, which she (correctly as it turns out) believed was being built against regulations.

Like “a dog with a bone” she hounded the shire, then the Victorian Building Authority, which saw a stop work placed on the site.

But the experience – which is still yet to be resolved – showed her the frustrations of local planning and how the system is insurmountable for the average person.

The experience was enough to convince Rochelle – who runs a restaurant with her husband Tony in Tooradin called Tides – to throw her hat in the ring.

But given her victory, did she act in haste, now repenting at leisure?

“I don’t regret it at all, but I do know council takes a lot of time if you want to do it well and I do want to do it well. I want to give the community a voice. I’m lucky my husband understands my passion.

"I think the other councillors, especially those in for a second term, think I fell out of the sky.”

While it may appear Rochelle fell into council, she certainly didn’t come down in the last shower and this is not her first foray into local politics.

State politics

She grew up in Western Australia, then Melbourne, working initially in reception at a real estate agency where she met her then-husband, (who passed away after illness in 2011).

With no interest and little understanding of politics, Rochelle worked as an electorate officer for two state Liberal MPs: Gary Rowe and Ken Smith for six years.

The work gave her an insight into how politics can help people and so in 2003 she successfully ran for one “heated, volatile” term on Frankston City Council, including as mayor.

“Compared to working in state politics, when I got into local council I felt like I had been slapped across the face 100 times. It was a minefield, and I found the politics, both left and right, confronting.”

In 2006 she was preselected to stand in the Victorian election as a Liberal candidate in Frankston, failing in that bid. She again stood for preselection in 2010 but withdrew when her husband became ill.

Despite clear Liberal leanings, Rochelle insists she is a centrist, only standing as a Liberal candidate because it’s easier being part of “the system” in parliament and adding that she disliked the partisan nature of her time at Frankston council.

As such, she says her decisions won’t be based on politics.

“I don’t like to commit until I have done all my research – not just relying on reports from shire officers – and have spoken to the community. Then I will consider the best outcome for the majority; although sometimes decisions need to be made that aren’t popular.

“I think it’s sad when issues get overtaken by minority groups who often have the loudest voices.”

How can the majority voice be determined?

Rochelle agrees it can be difficult and ultimately her decisions are made on “core issues”.

For example, she says, there have been a lot of voices in the debate about whether the Cowes Cultural Centre should have been bulldozed and a multi-million-dollar loan taken out to rebuild.

“Some people think it should just have been renovated. I think with this, it’s an argument for future planning. It’s not just about now but the future of Bass Coast. The centre will be a fabulous asset for the community.”

Environmental protection

While she hovers around the centre-right, Rochelle says when it comes to the environment, she’s all about conservation.

In a pre-election community zoom meeting for all candidates, she received gasps of shock from those watching when she replied to a question about whether she supported a new, long-awaited pool being built in Cowes, rather than a rebuilt pool in Wonthaggi.

Rochelle responded that given the island is “one way in and one way out”, locating the shire’s biggest pool in Cowes would create a giant bottleneck.

“I hear candidates and councillors talking about the need for less development and environmental sustainability on the island, yet if we see major projects in Cowes, which is the furthest destination from anywhere in the shire, we need to keep in mind it’s one way in and one way out.”

She says Phillip Island is a “special place that needs to be protected”.

“If we continue to build infrastructure, that will encourage people to go there in their droves and that will have an impact on the island.

“That’s not to say I’m against sensitive development. But we do need to be mindful that more infrastructure puts more stress on the environment.”

She believes Regional Roads Victoria’s plans to make four lanes in San Remo is a good idea, but in Newhaven needs further community consultation, and she does not support four lanes across the whole island.

She is against a regional skate park at Newhaven and believes Shetland Heights Road in San Remo needs to be urgently sealed and upgraded.

Rochelle supports dogs on designated off-leash beaches, as long as wildlife is protected.

In fact when she’s not working, her greatest joy is walking her Golden Retriever Invee (named after Inverloch) on the San Remo beach.

“And I’m thinking about getting back to the gym because Covid lockdown hasn’t been kind to me.”