Jordan Pritchard

We’ve been living in the McLaren Vale community for 17 years since my wife became a teacher in the area. In that time, I’ve engaged with the community through the CFS (into my 15th year), and committees and coaching at McLaren Vale Tennis Club, McLaren Districts Soccer Club, and Southern Tigers Basketball Club. The opportunity to apply as a councillor came at a fortunate time with my career because I was available to take on extra commitments and I had great support from friends and family. I’m a qualified engineer with several years of operational, business development and project management experience, so I felt these skills may offer a different background to others.

My priority was to try and connect more of the community to council services. I was convinced there’d be residents that don’t know about all the services council offers and how to engage with them. I’ve been amazed at the more than 200 services council offers! My priorities have also extended to trying to improve education to residents about how council goes about its business. I’ve been so impressed by the professional documents and processes in the council, and the dedication of staff. The council has a plan for just about everything, from footpaths to roads, to playground equipment, and these are consistent and transparent. Hopefully I can use them to try and return some trust in the council and its role in our community, as I’ve definitely felt this is also needed.

I’m originally from Moonta, and love that the region we live in now has a country feel too. We have three children, Henry, Oscar and George, and they play lots of local sport in the area, which is fantastic. They all went to the local childcare, Montessori, kindergarten, primary school and now high school. I’m a lieutenant in the CFS brigade. It’s amazing to be associated with all the other volunteers, interacting regularly with SA Ambulance, police and MFS, and seeing their incredible work. I still play tennis at and am about to do my ninth year of soccer coaching. I have a boat at mum’s house in Moonta that I don’t use often enough, and we have a tent that also hasn’t been used in a while!

We hear a lot about the things we don’t do well, but I’d love to hear more good news stories from residents about services we offer that people feel could get more use. It might be the free outdoor personal training classes or attendance at a council-run or supported event that they want to provide feedback on. Council supports festivals, businesses, sporting clubs, community clubs and provides lots of facilities—an aquatic centre, golf course, tourist park, libraries, dog parks, skate parks, gardens, etc., and I’d love to hear from the community about what they love about these things so we can keep doing the good things well.