Paul Watson is a born and bred Wagga builder turned property manager with four kids and a passion for local sporting facilities.

Tim Koschel is another born and bred local who has an eye on population growth and maintaining Wagga’s liveability for his children. 

Are council's sporting facilities good enough?

Definitely not.

We promote Wagga as the city of good sports, but most people would agree we have some of the worst facilities.

Council has spent a lot of money on McDonald’s Park for rugby league and Robertson Oval for Aussie rules and cricket, but they’re only half-done.

The AFL pre-season NAB Challenge match between Collingwood and North Melbourne drew a great crowd considering it was 42 degrees, but there wasn’t any shade for the spectators.

Soccer grounds are another good example, there’s no weather protection at Rawlings Park or Gissing Oval and we can do better than that; small towns 100 kilometres out of Wagga have better facilities.

Paramore Park and Equex attract thousands to the netball every weekend, but anyone who goes out there in the middle of winter might as well be in the snow.

In your work as a manager of maintenance for the housing department, can council do anything clean up our public housing areas?

It’s more of a state issue but there’s nothing stopping council developing community groups and upgrading recreational grounds and parks.

It would give kids something to do, who are lacking activities and turning to crime and graffiti.

Should North Wagga and Central residents cover more of the cost of the levee bank upgrade than residents in outer suburbs like Tatton and Kooringal?

The short answer is no. 

There’s issues council needs to divert resources to in places like Tatton and Kooringal but North Wagga residents don't complain about that.

North Wagga is part of Wagga, the river goes through the centre of Wagga and we should work together as a community to address the flood risk. 

As a father of four, what community activities should council invest in?

We need to have regular activities within the community, whether it be events in the park or family-friendly concerts, something similar to what we do on new year’s eve.

We should close off the main street once a month, to have main street markets with a multicultural aspect, which would promote businesses and offer families something to do together.

Pop-up shops and cafes along river precinct to promote regular use, along with bands playing down there on the weekends, enticing people to have a swim and BBQ, would offer a great community environment.

What are the biggest issues Wagga faces?

The amount of vacant retail shops in the main street is a large concern.

Council should develop a section of Baylis Street with no access for cars, maybe a cobble stone road and promote al-fresco cafes and shopping.

Wagga's a pretty city but there’s lots of focus on main street, which is very attractive but not everyone lives in main street and there’s a delay getting upgrades for parks and recreational outside the CBD. 

What can council do to make Wagga a better place for our kids to grow up?

My daughter's nearly 12 and there’s not a lot for her to age-group to do in Wagga until she turns 18, unless you’re involved in sport.

I can see how kids become disengaged from the community at that age and why some turn to crime.

When I was young, the Wagga Baths were a lot more popular than their replacement, Oasis.

In the holidays there were trial sports days where kids could try horse-riding, swimming, running and art. 

Is your ticket really the next generation when you’re running-mates include serving mayor Rod Kendall and former councillor Donna Argus?

If the current councillors are happy for Rod Kendall to represent them, then so are we.

I approached Rod (Kendall) to be on the ticket and go number one because the incumbent mayor usually polls the highest number of votes and to make change we need those votes. 

Next Generation is not just about age, it's about diversity; our candidates are young, old, male, female and from different ethnic backgrounds.

Should developers be allowed on council? 

If you had someone doing subdivisions and building, submitting a lot of development applications and your main business is dealing with council, there is a massive conflict of interest and you should not be allowed to stands on council. 

A lot of councillors have property interest, but as long as it’s not their day-to-day job that’s fine.

What are the biggest issues Wagga faces?

Everyone’s talking about the levee bank upgrade and there’s a lot of uncertainty for residents and businesses as to whether it's going ahead, especially since residents and businesses have seen increased rates. 

Council should have made the plan and time-frame clear by now. It should have been made clear by now and what’s happening with North Wagga.

Another big issue is engagement, getting the Wagga community interested in council again and tapping into the community’s solutions for a lot of issues.

Do you support the $50 rate rise for homes and $500 rate rise for businesses to upgrade the levee bank?

$50 per household isn't a big cost to secure the economic prosperity of Wagga. 

As for the $500 for businesses, council probably could have tailored the rate rise to a business’ earnings, because $500 is a lot to a corner store but not enough for a multi-million dollar company.