DEAN WEBSTER   CHAIRMAN

Dean has a background in agriculture and has worked in Western Victoria, remote outback Australia and Northern Ireland. He has worked on large land care and water saving projects in the Great Artesian Basin and provided skills training for the unemployed and the Aboriginal community.

He has travelled extensively throughout Asia, researching regional development and aid projects and facilitating trade and investment opportunities. He is now a self-employed beef producer and fire prevention contractor.

Dean was a member of the Surf Coast Shire’s planning committee for 10 years and is currently deputy chair of Surf Coast Energy Group. He was elected to the Surf Coast Council in 2004, served as Mayor in 2007/2008 and was re-elected in November 2008.

He is an outspoken advocate of alternative energy and water saving projects, a reduced carbon footprint, appropriate, sustainable, strategic land use planning and regional tourism.
 

SEAN MACKAY   TREASURER

Sean is a commercial credit manager with Bendigo Bank and has been employed by the bank for 10 years.  He is married with three small children and lives in Jan Juc.

He is currently participating in the two-year Leaders for Geelong Program through the Committee for Geelong. In his spare time, Sean enjoys surfing, snowboarding and watching the Mighty Hawks.   
 

LAURA CONNOR   FUNDING PORTFOLIO

Laura Connor is the co-ordinator of the Spring Creek Community House in Torquay and has been in this position for eight years.

She is also a committee member of Torquay Food Aid; the editor of Springboard Community Newsletter; a co-founder and member of the working party of the Surf Coast Business & Community Network; a committee member of the Living Green Foundation and a member of the Surf Coast Network of Neighbourhood Houses and the Barwon Network of Neighbourhood Houses.

Laura’s other community commitments include the role of co-founder and founding president of the Surf Coast Life Activities Club and her work as co-founder and founding president of the Danawa Community Garden at Spring Creek Reserve.

Her passion is to see community groups working together to create vibrant and diverse local communities.
 

ROBERT HARRIS   MARKETING PORTFOLIO

Robert has been a homeowner in Torquay for about 10 years and was a regular visitor to the Surf Coast in his youth. Currently employed as the branch manager of the Bendigo Bank in Torquay, he enjoys the privilege of being able to both live and work in Torquay.

Over the past few years, he has been activity involved at committee level in the Torquay Junior Football and Cricket Club, due to his two teenage boys being part of the club. He is also a member of the Torquay Bike Park steering committee.

Robert believes the community enterprise concept is an excellent way for the community to support itself and he is excited about the future possibilities for the Torquay & District Community Enterprise to offer alternative funding to various community initiatives.
 

DONNA VAN STADEN   MARKETING PORTFOLIO

Donna van Staden is the Community Engagement Officer for Barwon Water and is a former editor of the Surf Coast Times and Bellarine Times.

Donna has several years experience as a newspaper journalist, a communications specialist for global resources group BHP Billiton and as a public relations manager in local government.

She is passionate about issues affecting local communities, such as the need to strike a balance between development, preserving the natural environment and protecting the quality of life on the coast for families and retirees.

Donna has been involved in women’s issues for many years and believes strongly in the need to promote gender equality in the workplace to enable women to contribute their knowledge and skills at the highest level within government and the private sector.

 

BRIAN MCKITERICK   BOARD MEMBER

Originally from Melbourne, Brian made the sea change to the Surf Coast 15 years ago. He has been in the police service for 29 years and since 2002, he has been the officer-in-charge of the Torquay police station.

Appointed to the Surf Coast Council in November 2008, he has served on a variety of community organizations such as the Community Impact Advisory Committee, which assists the Surf Coast Shire with the planning of major events. He is also a member of the Municipal Emergency Management Team. Brian lives in Torquay with his wife and three children.
 

MICHAEL BRUGMAN   BOARD MEMBER

Michael has been participating in community groups for almost 30 years, particularly community legal centres.

He says he discovered early on in his career that professional groups can often be closed and aloof and reluctant to share the knowledge their members possess. By being involved in community groups like the Torquay & District Community Enterprise (TDCE), he plans to use the skills and knowledge that he can offer for the benefit of others in the local area.

Michael believes the TDCE is a fantastic grassroots means for the Bendigo Bank to form working relationships with the local community to the benefit of all participants in the initiative.

Michael is a father of four boys and has an established legal practice in Geelong.
 

BRIAN SINGER   BOARD MEMBER

Brian Singer is best known locally as one of the two founder-owners of international surfing company Rip Curl, based in Torquay since 1967 when Brian and Doug Warbrick started the company.

Through their business, Brian and Doug have actively supported a broad variety of local community activities and groups over the past four decades including the kindergartens and schools; Coast Action groups; surf lifesaving, football and netball clubs, among others.

Now a director of Rip Curl (rather than working in the business full-time), Brian is a Bells Beach resident when he’s not travelling – one of his favorite pastimes. He’s also an avid surfer and snow-skier, a die-hard Geelong Cats supporter and one of a very small number of people to have successfully climbed Mount Vinson, the Antarctic’s highest peak.