The former Wellington councillor has had two stints on council between 2008 and 2016 and believes the upcoming election is a crucial moment in the town’s growth.

“I have experience as a councillor but I’m open to change, I think I can make a difference,” he said.

“I have a young family and I want to make Wellington a nice place for them to grow up.”

David said the whole region boasts vast potential that must be utilised in order to progress as surrounding towns have.

“We’ve seen everyone grow up around us and we’re still stuck behind,” he said.

“We’re at the point now it’s a huge opportunity to grow and to leverage off Dubbo.”

David highlighted tourism, infrastructure and appeal among a number of factors which would be beneficial to Wellington.

He said the big focus is on big master plans done for sporting grounds and the museum, and to communicate with surrounding villages to establish long-term goals.

“On the back of that, us fostering a good working relationship with Dubbo,” David said.

“The potential is we’re in the centre of a population base of 200,000 people with Orange, Dubbo, Parkes, Mudgee – for us to draw on that and make us an attractive centre.

“We have fallen a bit behind the times, we need to move forward.”

He said the amalgamated council will be a learning curve for all elected councillors, and it will be an important time for the Wellington Ward to build a working relationship with Dubbo.

“We have to get rid of that ‘us and them’ mentality,” David said.

“We aren’t a burden on Dubbo, we put a lot of money back into it.

“We need for work on a partnership with these guys – Dubbo councillors have to have confidence in the Wellington Ward councillors, that what is spent down here will have results.”