WATER sector electrical engineer Declan O’Hanlon has been a lifelong Midland resident and wants to support Midland to be an economic hub, beautify the area and address residents’ traffic and drainage concerns.

“I’ve been in the water sector my whole time as an engineer but I don’t work with drainage,” Mr O’Hanlon said.

“I’m an electrical engineer so my main work is with pump stations, treatment plants, bore fields, and the control of those.

“But in terms of drainage, it’s a huge issue right now in the City of Swan, particularly you go out to Miller Street, Bellevue, it’s always flooding whenever it rains.”

Mr O’Hanlon said the Midland Guildford ward he was running for was an area that was very old and that age affected the infrastructure.

“That means the drains are older, the roads are older, and there could be more done for preventative maintenance,” he said.

“Upgrades of the drainage and road infrastructure to alleviate those problems is an investment but also the opportunity to save on maintenance.

“If we invested better in our drainage, less potholes will form, because the flooding is a leading cause of the potholes forming.

“If those potholes never formed in the first place, we wouldn’t have to send out teams on the weekends paying weekend rates to fill them and that’s how investing in preventative maintanence offers an opportunity for saving as well.”

Mr O’Hanlon grew up in Guildford, lives in South Guildford and said the area has shaped him, with his motivation to give back being influenced by his father’s and his own involvement with the scouts.

Mr O’Hanlon fondly recalled his father making a point of keeping his distance from him to keep the experience as independent as possible and Mr O’Hanlon said he valued his father giving him the opportunity to develop as an individual.

Mr O’Hanlon said his interest in politics has led him to volunteer for the Labor Party, but he has never worked a political job.

“I don’t really have an intention of ever taking up a political job as a staffer or anything,” he said.

“This is my first time running and I just felt like I was in the right space in my life to give it a go.

“I’m still gonna stay as a full-time engineer, and being a councillor you really need to be able to give it your all, and I feel like right now I’ve settled into my job well, but I don’t have kids yet, so I’m in the right space where I can really give it my all and give a lot back to the community.

“I’ve always been interested in politics but I’m very happy being an engineer.

“I saw that the local government elections were coming up, and I really just wanted the opportunity to try to give back to my community and challenge myself to do more for my area.

“I think that’s something we should all strive to do – give back and do more.”