Kiama, Minnamurra, Gainsborough, Kiama Downs, Jamberoo, Gerringong, Gerroa

YOU’RE IN S.A.F.E. HANDS

Welcome and thanks for stopping by!

I’m Councillor Karen Renkema-Lang, one of the nine Councillors elected to represent you on Kiama Council in the December 2021 elections.

As promised during my campaign I am determined to bring about change for the benefit of the Community. I am committed to bringing the right kind of influence and thinking to ensure Kiama Council is sensible with money, accountable with decision making, values fair planning, and champions a responsible stand on the environment.

My priorities are to:

  1. Ensure Council’s financial position is known and understood by all ratepayers, and that Council staff have the skills necessary to develop, monitor and enact a 10 year plan to strengthen Councils economic base.
  2. Provide opportunities for diversification of local businesses so that our economic base is resilient and able to provide interesting, well paid and secure job opportunities.
  3. Introduce greater transparency and accountability in the way Council conducts its business.
  4. Tighten planning and development controls to stop unrestricted urban creep, over development and inappropriate development.
  5. Develop and enact a plan to manage our natural environment more responsibly.

As demonstrated on the My Progress page I am committed to the above priorities, to meeting my campaign commitments, and have been working hard in alignment with my Policies.

About COUNCILLOR KAREN RENKEMA-LANG

As a mother of three and a grandmother of two, I am deeply concerned about the world they will inherit. This is my motivation. It fuels my passion for social justice, care for our natural environment, and transparent governance.

My hallmarks are consistency and integrity. I relentlessly research facts, I am not afraid to ask difficult questions, and I have constantly sought the views of the broader community through my significant involvement in Council and community groups and committees. 

Between 2016 and 2021 I advocated on behalf of the local community as a member on Kiama Council’s Planning Committee. During this time I contributed to the development of the Kiama Town Centre Study and the Local Strategic Planning Statement. As the president of Kiama Central Precinct and the Combined Community Advocacy Group I wrote many submissions to Kiama Council and to NSW Government representatives expressing concerns of local residents and requesting change for the better. I was also the founding chair of the Kiama Community Radio and initiated Kiama’s contribution to the Australia wide AUSMAP micro-plastic initiative which has gained international attention.

I have substantial experience in dealing with complex legislation, regional boundary dependencies, and contested value judgements from my career in Federal Government.

While working for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in the early 2000s, I participated in multi-national government initiatives related to cross border identity fraud. I worked with senior representatives from other countries to formulate policy and to design related business and technical solutions.

Later I was the technical lead of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) initiative related to water trading and since semi-retiring, I have I participated in over 25 project assurance reviews across many Federal Government departments.  I have repeatedly dealt with complex legislation, regional boundary dependencies, and contested value judgements.

My professional background plus the experience gained on Council and volunteering on local groups, provide a strong and confident basis for me to represent you, the ratepayers, on Kiama Council.