Humans of Kegworth: Philippa Representing Leichhardt-Gulgadya!

How long have you been a human of Kegworth? 

Almost nine years! My daughter Rose started kindergarten at Kegworth in 2013, and her brother Will started in 2016. Rose graduated in 2019 and now attends our local public high school – Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt. Will is in year 5 now.

What do you like most about Kegworth/Leichhardt? 

I love our sense of community, which develops because of how close we live to each other. If the walls of your house are touching someone else’s, your backyard is the park, and your kitchen is the corner cafe, you learn to get along! I love walking down the street to get coffee at Carousel or Carpenter and seeing all my neighbours. I love having a P&C or sports club BBQ and cooking up sausages for everyone. I love sharing our parks on Friday after school when everyone knows that’s where we meet.

Is Kegworth anything like the primary school that you went to? 

Yes and no. I’m a life-long inner westie but some things have changed. The first primary school I went to was Russell Lea Public School which was then just an infants school. I had to leave after year 2 to go to “big school”, which was Drummoyne Public School. I remember being very intimidated by all the big year sixes, and wondering how I would make friends when everyone else had been there since kindy.

You’re running for the local council – can you tell us a bit about what that means and what inspired you to run

In New South Wales we have local councils that look after essential services like parks, collecting rubbish and recycling, libraries and swimming pools. Our local council is called the Inner West Council and it’s divided up into five areas: Leichhardt, Balmain, Stanmore, Ashfield and Marrickville. I’m asking people to elect me as one of the Councillors representing Leichhardt. We have an election on 4 September 2021, and it’s compulsory for adults to vote, just like the state and federal elections!

I was inspired to run because I love Leichhardt and I want it to be a great place to live. Council services have the most impact on us having a good, happy neighbourhood with lots of trees and parks, fun places to hang out and and see live music or ride a skateboard, and do our part for the environment, like composting and installing solar panels.

One thing that I also love about Leichhardt is our diversity, the different kinds of people there are living here. I want to make sure Leichhardt is a home for everyone. So something else that’s really important to me is making sure that all the fun parts of Leichhardt, like the pools and libraries, and all the boring but important parts, like footpaths and toilet blocks, are accessible to everyone, no matter how old or young they are, what language they speak, how much money they have, or how they get around the neighborhood. Being on Council is an important job, and it’s something I’m really looking forward to!

Thanks Pip, great to meet you!

Want to meet more Human’s of Kegworth? Come and visit our community.