Approval of a tip extension in Ravenhall could be the trigger for sacked Brimbank councillor Marion Martin to stand in October’s election.
The state government has “called in” Cleanaway’s planning application to expand the size of the tip and extend its life.
Ms Martin has scoffed at suggestions her public role as a Stop The Tip spokesperson was an opportunity to stay in the limelight and build her profile towards another municipal tilt. But says: “If they approve the extension, then I might be thinking more seriously about it.”
“That might push me a bit, because it’s going to affect this whole area … all the people in Brimbank Gardens.
“I haven’t completely made up my mind [about running for council] … I said eight years ago I wouldn’t run again and I got talked into it.”
The sting of being sacked as a Brimbank councillor in 2009 still burns in Ms Martin’s stomach.
“It makes me feel really, really angry,” she said. “Some people say, ‘It’s been eight years, you should be over it’ – but I’m not. We were there only a couple of months, and what we were sacked for had nothing to do with that council – it was the previous council, and they got away with it scot free.”
She said losing her position hurt financially.
“They [election campaigns] cost a lot of money. To be in council for four or five months, then be sacked, that was something that didn’t go down well,” she said.
“I spent $8000 to $10,000 – that’s not counting all the doorknocking and all the hours of going to meetings, talking to people.”
Ms Martin said Stop The Tip organisers had approached two well known Caroline Springs sportspeople, including former AFL player Brian Lake, to be public faces of their campaign.
