Bushy Park pool
A working pool for the upper valley. Community infrastructure, not a brochure item.
Derwent Valley Council · October 2026
Councillor and Deputy Mayor
Pragmatism. Gumption. Community.
33 days, 13 hours until 2pm, 27 October
Putting ideas on a page is the easy part. What this Valley has not seen enough of is someone actually advocating in public when there is no election on.
The last few years have been absolutely silent on that front. The noise starts when a state or federal election is running. A party politician turns up, offers the community something, and stands next to a councillor, a mayor or a deputy mayor so it looks like they care. That is the council being used to buy votes. The week after polling day it goes quiet again.
What matters is the work outside election time. I am not an elected member, but I am working year round. There is already more than enough proof of that. Advocacy is what you do when nobody is handing out how-to-vote cards.
I enter this election to be the Bigg voice in a time when the communities of the Valley should be heard. These communities must be at the forefront of every decision instead of only making way for the new and shiny.
In a time of growth we need a pragmatic approach over wasteful, tokenistic ideas that only hurt us later. The Valley runs from Maydena to Boyer. All of it.
First 90 days
What I will push for on day one
These are positions I want to put forward for change in the community. Plenty of people in the Valley already know what needs to change. They just do not have anyone who will listen, and then act. That is priority one.
01
Finish the roadworks on Pioneer Avenue and High Street
Work on these roads was started and then left. Finish it. Not another study. Not another delay.
02
A growth plan for New Norfolk that people can use
A structure plan is the map of how the town grows. Houses, parking and buses have to be planned together. Do not approve more houses on streets that cannot take the cars.
03
A tip page that says if the gate is open
One page, updated that day, for Peppermint Hill. Is it open. What will they take. Has a total fire ban or extreme wind shut the gate. People should not drive there to find a locked gate.
04
Bring the waste levy back, and pay landholders when dumpers cannot be found
Most of the state landfill levy leaves the Valley. When rubbish is dumped on private land and the person who dumped it cannot be found, that landholder should not be the one paying to get it off. Levy money should come back here for the cleanup. I put that to Council in April. I will keep pushing it.
05
No council rates for two years on a new home
A rates holiday means the council rates on a newly built house are paused for two years. If we want families to build here, do not send a full rates bill before the paint is dry.
06
Half the rates for three years once an empty shop is leased
This is not a discount for a shop that stays empty. Once a business leases it and opens the door, the rates on that shop are cut in half for three years. Empty High Street windows help nobody.
07
A Building Tasmania partnership
Not another consultant’s slide deck. Council partners in a build that employs tradies and apprentices directly, trains them, and puts up houses. That is how you cut the middlemen.
08
Advocate for investment in the Derwent Valley Railway
I will advocate for investment in the railway for this community. The Valley would love to see heritage rail and tourism get running.
Projects that keep getting parked
National Park transfer station
If you make it expensive and inconvenient to dump legally, people dump in a culvert. Give the upper valley a station that works.
Reinvigorate and care for the Willow Court precinct
Council has had this site for more than twenty years. The community asked for it to be looked after and used for its history. Little of that has happened. It needs care, not another year of sitting there.
Community over vanity projects
No more tokenistic ideas that look good in a mayoral photo and cost us later. Services people actually use.
How to vote
Bigg 1 on both papers
Two papers have my name on them. Councillor, and Deputy Mayor. Put 1 next to BIGG, Phillip on both, then number every other box. I am not on the Mayor paper.
Councillor · 20 candidates · 7 to elect
Number Phillip Bigg 1
This paper elects the councillors. Seven seats. Put 1 next to BIGG, Phillip, then number every other box. Do not stop at seven. If you stop early, your vote can die before it has finished working.
- 1Find BIGG, Phillip on the councillor ballot.
- 2Put 1 in that square. Then number the rest without repeating.
Deputy Mayor · 9 candidates
Number Phillip Bigg 1
This is a different paper. One person is elected Deputy Mayor. I am on this paper. I am not running for Mayor. Mayor is a third paper in the pack, and my name is not on it.
- 1Find BIGG, Phillip on the deputy mayor ballot.
- 2Put 1 in that square. Then number the rest without repeating.
Postal vote dates
33 days, 13 hours until 2pm, 27 October
Packs posted
5 October
Close of poll
2pm, 27 October
Count begins
28 October
There are no polling places. If you will be away, ask the Tasmanian Electoral Commission for a supplementary pack. Telephone assisted voting is available if you are interstate, overseas, or have a print disability. Check you are enrolled.