With that in mind, we asked each Mayoral candidate (and one lead candidate on a council ticket) two questions: What three things they would like to achieve as mayor, and their long-term goal for the Shire.

Here's the answers they sent us.

"True community engagement and transparency. It's something that is often said so the implementation of it and our strategy for that is key.

"I want to see sound financial management and optimal utilisation of Council resources.

"Better strategic planning and preparedness for bushfire and other natural disasters in the future."

"My goal is to repair the relationship between community and council while creating a community for my children to have the option to stay and raise a family of their own. Youth retainment is a huge issue here and needs to be addressed."

"Council is seen by the residents as an open organisation, trusted by the community to be the voice of the Eurobodalla.

"Council has a well-managed and healthy budget, focusing on priorities that reflect the well wishes of the community.

"The Eurobodalla community is well prepared to deal with the effects of climate change.

"Residents in the Shire are confident to engage in debate and discussion with the Council on matters they are concerned about. The Council is trusted to accurately represent and support the Eurobodalla community.

"We are committed as a community to maintaining our green and clean image. We will have funding from all levels of government to achieve this.

"The Council and the community are working together to take practical steps to reduce our carbon footprint, and minimise the effects of climate change.

"We have the resources from all levels of government, so all are living here with dignity and respect. To achieve this, the Council has secured State and Federal funding for housing, health, education, policing, aged care, disability, and other community services the Shire needs. The Council is using its funds wisely to provide good physical infrastructure such as sewage, water, and local roads.

"We enjoy the cultural skills and diversity we have in our Shire. Arts of all kinds are celebrated and practiced, and the Shire has a reputation for showcasing these skills."

"Culture change. You elect councillors to serve, listen, advocate and answer for you - and to you - with integrity. As elected representatives, Council should shape the direction of the Eurobodalla, not just rubber-stamp long-held bureaucratic processes. As Mayor I would work to ensure the group of nine work collaboratively, and drive a smarter and more proactive agenda. Our 'Community First' program will see Council adopt a new community-focused way of working, including resuming the live stream of public forums and opening Committee meetings to the media. We'll win your trust and confidence by making the Council responsive, transparent and accountable, and ensuring you feel included and heard.

"Protect community assets. Whether green space, neighbourhood hubs or sport and rec centres, community assets make a Shire unique. Before they're lost to the community, that community has a right to review. We will run a robust review process on the sale of all community assets.

"Develop and implement a Disaster and Recovery Plan. When the Black Summer bushfires hit, we were packed into evacuation centres without power or communication. Lives were destroyed; trauma and challenges remain. We must be better prepared for future disasters. We will design a Disaster and Recovery Plan that will ensure enhanced communication infrastructure, improved evacuation centres, and other contingency measures. We will begin to leverage the renewables revolution, enabling cleaner, more reliable energy to towns and villages via microgrids and solar hubs."

"Our planning and development is stuck in the 1980s. We deserve better. We can be clever, leaders in urban design, planning and business development.

"A rubber-stamp approach to township planning threatens our lifestyle, tourism industry, natural environment and health and wellbeing. Without a deliberate, thoughtful approach to expansion, our Shire is in danger of becoming a patchwork of bland, clear-felled suburbs. We must be smarter and more proactive. We can implement a town planning policy that puts our communities first. We can seek and consider community input and work with developers for the best community outcomes.

"A good town planning policy would be built upon a clear vision for the Shire, focusing on:

"We can foster a thriving post-COVID economy, all year round. Our economy is geared towards the summer boom but it can grow, and thrive, all year round. We can harness the city-to-region migration and work-from-home revolution to boost local job creation. Business Innovation Hubs will develop lively new businesses, industries and entrepreneurs. Our natural assets such as our forests and walking tails can be developed for year round tourist businesses.

"With improved communications infrastructure, broadband and mobile, we will attract new and innovative businesses. We will revitalise our main streets, creating vibrant, attractive, walkable town centres that benefit new and existing businesses and organisations, as well as residents."

"Improved accountability. Eurobodalla residents expect, and the Greens will deliver, greater openness and transparency in council decision-making processes. This is just one aspect of rebuilding the trust of the community in our Council, which has been eroded by a culture of secrecy. We can't rebuild that trust without being open and transparent in our actions. We will also need to revisit what genuine community consultation with the community looks and feels like in this Shire. Residents tell me they often feel the existing public engagement process is one of 'consult and ignore'. We want to improve access to Council meetings, the public forum and public access sessions. We will also explore new ways to open up avenues for meaningful participation in council processes.

"Liveability. We will work to ensure our communities are safe, inclusive and resilient to shocks like the natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. The emerging low-carbon and renewables economy presents real opportunities for shires like ours in the regions. We will be on the front foot when it comes to inviting jobs in those industries to our Shire. Liveability and employment won't mean much, however, if we can't meet the basic needs in housing for our Shire's residents. The housing crises is something Council can and must address. We will urgently advance the development of our Shire's first Homelessness and Affordable Housing Strategy and we have outlined in our media channels ways that local government can be part of the solution to the housing crises.

"Environmental Responsibility. There will always be a need to find the right balance between our need for housing and other development andprotection of the stunning natural environment. Environmental and social considerations in the decision-making process should no longer be secondary to economic considerations. Few of the Eurobodalla's residents are living here 'for the economy'. We've chosen this 'Nature Coast' as our home because of the beautiful landscape between the mountains and the sea and friendly communities - let these be our priorities when we are designing our future here."

"I've outlined some of our priorities for the Eurobodalla Shire, but few of these things can come to fruition if we don't have a respectful relationship between council and the community - that's the 'rebuilding the trust' that I mentioned earlier. For that I think we'll also need to ensure that the representative body of elected councillors reflects the diversity of people in our community.

"I want to start the process of this becoming a more inclusive council by informing and encouraging residents from all walks of life to become involved in council matters. I want to see more women, more youth and more First Nations people on council, but first we have to make council a welcoming and inclusive place for them.

"In the years ahead, I'll be really happy to be able to say, 'Look, if I can do this, then you can too' and be a part of the welcome party for a more diverse group of aspiring councillors."

"If I am elected Mayor the first thing to do would be to open up council meetings to the public via live streaming as well as having genuine discussions with the various community groups to help form council policy going forward. We need all the different groups to have their say so we can get a balanced view. This will give the new councillors the capability to develop and guide their policy for the council staff to implement.

"We need to protect the natural assets and environment that the south coast offers us, that really attracts more and more people to the area. The pressure that this type of growth brings will require our council to be very proactive in balancing economic growth and the well-being of our residents while protecting the shires environment into the challenging future."

"My passion is for this community. In the 25 or so years I have been lucky enough to have lived here there has been a lot of change. There is a lot more people calling the south coast home now and that growth will continue. Society values have changed as well. To be able to cope with these pressures we need councillors who are honest, capable and have enough initiative to form the policies required to keep our lifestyle that we enjoy today."

"There's three main issues to me. We really need a more open Council with genuine community input, and with councillors all working together more to achieve those things.

"No selling of public land unless it's supported by the residents after their full genuine consultation. That includes roads, reserves, pathways, community lands. There's been a fire-sale of our assets over the years, and it's time they're reined in.

"Three, I'd like to see a Council which is far more assertive and vocal lobbyists to governments on key projects in the Shire, such as the Level 4 hospital and the Princes Highway upgrades. These are vital projects to our community's future, economy, and tourism. They're not explicitly Council functions, but we haven't been vocal enough and we should be pushing more for these things. Council is powerful in this Shire, and they have the skills to do this, but I don't think there's been enough lobbying on our behalf."

"Our Shire is facing a challenging future, as are many shires. The fallout from COVID and the bushfires is still present, and a big issue to me is population growth and the pressure for development. These are huge issues, and we need a Council who's on top of this to set us up for the future. I'd like to see a Council that looks after our three key assets in their decision making: community, economy and the environment. If we keep these three things in good shape, we can progress and thrive, but if we let them slip we've got nothing."

"We've got a couple of big projects that I want to see through. I want to see Bay Pavilions through and finished, because that's been a huge investment. Same with the southern dam which is now starting on the Tuross River. We need to keep hammering the state and feds to keep that project rolling, because it's vital.

"One thing we started but still hasn't gone anywhere yet is the oyster hatchery out near the airport. It's funded and ready to go, and it should start rolling soon. That's a really exciting project that will create employment in the area."

"I came on in the first term saying the same thing. I want to see a happy balance between available housing and agriculture. I don't want to see the place become like Albion Park. We need to tidy up the boundaries of townships and have a mark where we say 'that's as far as we're going'. We also need to allow more high-density housing in the CBDs. If we need to go up, we'll go up.

"I'd like to see some lines drawn where you say 'this is it', and you deal with housing however you need to after that, but you make sure to lock up the agricultural land."

"Certainly the completion of the Level 4 regional hospital with integrated housing for patients and their families like they've been able to achieve in Bega. The hospital is vital and it has to be obviously much better than what we currently have. There's no point having a facility which is compromised.

"I think we need adequate land for our population growth and the associated economic development, taking into account the fact 78 per cent of the Shire is State Forest or National Park. It's not like you can every say 'we'll zone 200 hectares on the west side of the highway', because the land just isn't available.

"We need improvements to local and regional roads. The majority of freight and tourism comes by the roads, so that needs to continue.

"We need to continue the expansion and development of our major assets like the airport and marinas, and that leads to the development, upgrading and expansion of all of our infrastructure for both locals and visitors.

"Overall, the continuation of Council's climate action plan is important because we're about two years in front of the targets we'd set for emissions. There's no question we can always do more, but I think within the next two years we'll be 100 per cent renewable energy in the Shire."

"The vision I would have is a prosperous and healthy place for people to live and bring up their children. The Shire would have realistic career prospects and continue to enjoy the natural environment we have."