First time political candidate Andrew Dewson has warned some Gungahlin suburbs "could go the way of Tuggeranong" without proper investment from the ACT government.
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Contesting October's ACT election as an independent in the seat of Yerrabi, the Harrison based public servant said there was a need for independent voices in the territory Assembly and the public was dissatisfied with the major parties.
"I wanted to get a bit of discussion happening around Gungahlin and the ACT as a whole and to try and get the major parties to talk a bit more," he said. "It is going well so far, I've been getting a bit of attention and there are a lot of people out there open to an independent voice."
Among announcements made during the early months of his campaign, Mr Dewson has called for first home buyers to get preferential treatment in territory land sales, a government focus on housing affordability, the introduction of green waste bins for ACT homes and a nurse walk-in centre for Gungahlin.
He has also campaigned for a 10 per cent increase in nursing numbers, the appointment of an ACT consumer ombudsman and better transparency in government.
He said the major parties were too comfortable in the current Assembly and cared more about "gold-plated announcements" than bringing back ideas to the community.
"The Labor-Greens government has done a terrible job of selling light rail. They should have started the conversation a lot earlier so the light rail could have been up and operational by now," he said.
"It would be a waste of money if the Liberals come in and scrap it and pay compensation."
Born in outback NSW and educated in Armidale, Mr Dewson first moved to Canberra a decade ago and has built a home with his partner while working for the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office. He said Labor and Liberal Party rules had prompted him to run as an independent, but he conceded the choice made winning the election harder.
He wouldn't say which party he would support if he held the balance of power after the poll.
"I am more a left-of-centre individual, so it would sound like I would sit better with Labor, but that is not a guarantee."
He said new Gungahlin suburbs needed proper community infrastructure and ongoing investment from the government.
"In some ways it could be like Tuggeranong has become a bit," Mr Dewson said.
"Urban decay is bad and renewal is really needed down there. I think that is something that seems to be happening in Gungahlin because lots of suburbs are coming up everywhere, but there aren't great services.
"Hopefully I can help people more if I am elected," he said.
