For businesses
A city that is easier to trade in, visit, and stay for.
- Value for the rates you already pay
- A council that helps progress instead of stifling it
- Practical support for traders in the CBD and Rundle Mall
Central Ward · April 2027
Taking care of the community
Standing for Central Ward — for the people who run the shops, and the people who live above them.
Who Colin is
Colin is a retailer, a government-relations adviser, and someone who has spent his working life helping people find the next connecting step.
When people come to him, they usually do not know where to start, who to deal with, or what happens next. That practical connecting work is the through-line — from Rundle Mall shop floors to council and state government doors.
For residents
A city you can walk through at night and still feel at home in.
- Safety and security in streets and local parks
- Rates spent on useful services, not trivial projects
- A council that treats Central Ward as a community, not only a business district
Policy ideas
What he would take to council.
Four things for this term — two for traders, one for people walking home, and one for the whole ward.
01 · Business
The first park of the day should be free
Smart parking, first ticketed slot of the day free — thirty minutes, an hour, or two — then the car moves on. Grow ticketed parking in Central Ward by half, so more of the city works this way.
Read the full policy →
02 · Business
Outdoor tables and chairs, if they are safe
No charge for outdoor dining where it is safe, meets workplace and environmental standards, and does not block people, bikes, emergency vehicles, or freight.
Read the full policy →
03 · Residents
Streets and lanes that feel safer after dark
Better lighting in streets and laneways. Ticket machines that can call 131 444 in an emergency. More police vehicles and police on the beat, day and night.
Read the full policy →
04 · Everyone
Stick to the job: roads, rates, and rubbish
Show ratepayers where every dollar goes. Adelaide City Council as the front door to South Australia — and a role model for the rest of local government.
Read the full policy →
Longer term
What he will keep working on.
The four above are the short and medium list. These four sit with them.
01
Fair treatment when a big event takes over the street
If a planned event interrupts residents and traders for more than a week — including bump-in and bump-out — a rates holiday for that stretch, and turnover help for the businesses in and next to the event area.
Read more →
02
A fairer rates base
Review the exemptions. Private towers on Crown land, universities, and Lot 14 should contribute like other traders.
Read more →
03
A simpler vote for every city business
One vote per business — including in a shared workspace — without the current maze.
Read more →
04
Compensation when a development disrupts the street
Major developments that impede residents or traders must carry auto built-in compensation clauses — planned in the application, with risk analysis and mitigation — so unexpected delays do not leave the neighbourhood to absorb the loss.
Read more →
In the city
Colin in Adelaide.
Streets, shops, and the people who use them. This is the city he is standing for.
Questions for the city
- 01Are you getting bang for your buck for the rates you pay?
- 02Is council spending those rates on useful services?
- 03Do you want a more efficient, more proactive council?
Talk to Colin
If you want to know who he is, what he stands for, and why he is running — that is what this page is for. Then write to him.
colin@colinshearing.com.au