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Diane Brennan - First Female Mayor of Ballina Shire

Diane Betsy Brennan nee Parkin, (born 2 April 1944, died 14 October 2019)[1] was the first female mayor of Ballina Shire council [1,2,3].

Early Life

Diane was born in the New South Wales town of Penrith in 1944, followed by a younger sister Lyn [3]. The family relocated to Ballina in 1953 where her father, Harold, took up a position with the Ballina Bowling Club as greenkeeper [3]. Diane attended Ballina Primary School, following to Ballina High School, following this up with correspondence courses in writing, allowing her to commence work as a journalist with local newspapers including The Ballina Advocate, The Northern Star and The Summerland News, during which time Diane covered the Ballina Shire council meetings [3].

Family

Diane married Graham Brennan in 1964[5]. They had one son; Tony born in 1967. The Brennan family moved from Ballina to Tintenbar in 1979, returning to Ballina in 1985[3]. Graham and Diane retired to Biggara Waters, Queensland[1].

Ballina shire council contribution

First elected to the Ballina Shire council in 1980, she was elected deputy Mayor in 1988 a position she held until 1994, when she was elected as Mayor in 1994, a position she held until 1997 [3,4]. She continued her work with Ballina Shire Council until 1999[3,4].

As mayor Diane made a commitment to provide transparency to her constituents, working hard to improve roads, rates and garbage disposal across the Ballina Shire[3]. Remembered within Ballina Council for her drive to set up communication strategies, she continued writing informative columns for The Ballina Advocate culminating in her regular reports, ‘From the Mayor’s desk. She served on many council and regional committees and was a member of the Country Mayors’ Association during her time as mayor[3].

The establishment of Fawcett Street Park was considered by Diane as her greatest accomplishment for the Ballina community, coordinating public meetings and rallying the people of Ballina to ensure the space was saved[3]. Diane was a driving force for the construction of the council chambers in Ballina’s CBD and not on the Prospect Estate[3]. Diane worked hard to oversee the construction of the River Street Library and improvements to village libraries as well as the $600 000 renovation of the Wigmore Arcade with public seating area and toilets[3]. During her tenure Diane oversaw the introduction of the wheelie bin and rural garbage services[3]. Diane was very involved with council’s development of Angels Beach residential estate, with the profits from this venture paid for the $8.1 million Prospect Bridge, 4.7km of roads, cycle ways and associated infrastructure[3]. Diane was instrumental in the Ballina Shire Council’s Concrete Batching Plant development when Diane convinced council that it would be financially beneficial to the community, it was thought that the batching plant would provide an income stream and savings in any road construction projects for the shire[3].

Diane was influential in obtaining an ongoing grant to clean up and ensure regular maintenance of the then closed Tintenbar General Cemetery, providing general burials, this cemetery contains many pioneer families, several of whom were involved with the early cedar industry[3].

Noted by former councillor David Wright was Diane’s supporter of the airport and various land developments throughout Ballina including Southern Cross Industrial Estate[2]. In 1983 as chairwoman of council’s Centenary Committee Diane worked closely with local historian, Glen Hall, during his writing of his book, Port of Richmond River [6].

References 1.	Diane Brennan (née Parkin) | Funeral Notices | Northern Rivers / Byron | My Tributes 2.	Tributes flow after death of Ballina's first female mayor | Northern Star 3.	Recognising Ballina District citizens. Book 2 compiled by Ian Kirkland 2019, pgs 10-11 4.	Shire Association of NSW 1999, Certificate of Appreciation 5.	Family History Search Results (nsw.gov.au) 6.	Port of Richmond River (1840’s-1980’s): being a personalised regional history of Ballina and the lower river by Glen Hall

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