Name: Cosmin Luca – Greens
Are you part of or have you been part of a political party? If so, which one?
I’ve been a proud member of the Greens since I graduated from High School in 2019 🙂
Tell us a bit about you and your team. What’s your day job?
I’m the convenor of the Ryde-Epping Greens, a group of young professionals and grassroots veterans who are keen on ecological sustainability, grassroots democracy, social justice and peace & harmony.
What are some things you love about living in the area?
The parks, the variety of foods, and the stories I have. I used to go to Eastwood after school at least a couple times a week. We’d always get a Hotstar. Admittedly, my favourite park in Ryde is Ryde Park— which is in central Ward— and my favourite feature of Ryde (right now, at least) is its Green Link between Ryde and Macquarie Park. It made me buy a new bike!
What do you believe to be the 3 main issues affecting our community?
Our community experiences a whole range of issues, so I can’t speak for all of Ryde. But what I can see is that:
- There’s more houses and apartments going up in the area without the appropriate parks and community land to provide amenities to the growing number of Ryde locals.
- Despite new developments, the area is not getting more affordable—- or palatable—- to young families or young people generally. Live music is dead here; we don’t have a local youth centre; schools are getting overcrowded. Median rents in Eastwood are at $730/week
- It’s gotten harder for the community to make sure council is listening to them and acting in its interests. Public addressses and community petitions have been removed from council meetings. Generally Ryde Council does a bad job of consulting with locals on projects, and it’s often quite rubber-stampy from the get-go.
What are the 3 key things you plan to achieve?
I’ll preface by saying that if elected, I’ll be one Green in a sea of Labor and Liberals, alongside one very feisty independent. Despite this, I have the magic powers of a mosquito. I’ll buzz and annoy council into:
- Bringing back public addresses and community petitions to the council chamber.
- Setting aside enough budget for fully funding a Ryde Youth Centre, so that we can go back to the heydays of the 80s when local talent actually had a local place to play.
- Making sure we get an affordable housing stock in Ryde through sensible, compounding capped-investment schemes. That’s fancy talk for investing 2% of council’s annual budget into buying affordable housing in Ryde, every year. At Ryde’s current income, that would be 4 units per year, with rents and interest adding up to buy more units.
What about your long term vision for the area?
My kind of Ryde is full of respect and consideration for others, and is built on equity and a collective desire to love one’s neighbour and make sure we’re all doing okay. Especially in these troubling times.
I want our local residents to feel empowered and listened to; like we all have a stake in something that extends beyond the boundaries of our residential lots.
And I want this place to be safe and engaging for young and very-young people. Childhood and youth is a magical point of our lives and, if we nurture it in our community with appropriate infrastructure and supports, perhaps the magic of those years can remain with those who grow up in Ryde forever.
Other Comments:
It usually doesn’t come up in conversation, but my pronouns are they/them, not he/him like people assume. No, Mom(s), it’s not just a phase!
Contact details:
0452 227 961 – call any time with questions or concerns
Cosmin.luca@nsw.greens.org.au – my political email for political things (including getting political help!)
Cosmin.luca2001@gmail.com – my personal email, for personal invitations and community related things 🙂
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cosminandreiluca
Instagram: @cosmin.Andrei.luca
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