Dunsborough resident Bev Stone has put her hand up for a seat on the City of Busselton Council in the upcoming local government election.
Two things Ms Stone believes needed addressing on council were strong community representation and leadership because it felt like council decisions were being made based on the officers recommendations.
"I am running for council so we can actually ask the questions from the community, I do not think the community is being heard," she said.
Having addressed council on a number of issues, Ms Stone said she felt that planning decisions were already decided before public consultation took place.
"For example, new works will be going in near Naturaliste Terrace in Dunsborough," she said.
"The business owners have been given three options, they have not been asked if they want these works or what they would like, they have just been given three options to choose from," she said.
"There needs to be more conversation with the community."
Ms Stone said money was being directed towards projects like the foreshore but there were other parts of the community which desperately needed better facilities.
"Our basketball club has 300 members and one basketball court which is not entirely used for basketball," she said.
"Councillors should be working for the community, looking at the types of facilities they need prioritised and what solutions they had."
The other issue Ms Stone felt needed addressing was the growing urban sprawl and how it could be better managed.
"We could take examples from European countries, obviously the cities are big, but their small towns retain their uniqueness, which is why people come here," she said.
Ms Stone said the five-storey building approved in Dunsborough was designed to help deal with urban sprawl, but the fourth and fifth floors were dedicated to short-term accommodation.
"That does not address urban sprawl and do we need more accommodation?" she said.
"I recently talked to an accommodation owner owner here who had to put off staff because they could no longer afford to employ them.
"What do we need?"
Another concern Ms Stone had was the lack of connection between Busselton's foreshore and the CBD precinct.
"The CBD has become very dull and it needs some vibrancy in there to cater for our own community not just tourists," she said.
"I will be a strong leader and question some of the decisions being made and where the budget is being spent, we had one of the largest rate increases in WA, what are we getting for our money?
"We need to provide for the local community, I am very concerned that we are becoming like a suburb of Perth."
