Nicholas Reece launches bid to become Lord Mayor

Long-standing councillor Nicholas Reece has officially announced his intention to run for Lord Mayor at the upcoming City of Melbourne local government elections in October.

Cr Reece was officially sworn in as the 105th Lord Mayor of Melbourne on July 2, pledging to be a “a hands-on Lord Mayor”. He will serve in the role for a matter of months until September 17 when the City of Melbourne enters caretaker period ahead of the elections in October.

Having served his apprenticeship as a councillor since 2016, as well as Deputy Lord Mayor under his predecessor Sally Capp since 2020, Cr Reece believes he’s well and truly ready for the city’s top job.

And in launching his campaign under the motto of “Gets Good Done”, Cr Reece is now vying to take on leading the city for a full four-year term, pledging “big ideas” for Melbourne’s future.

While he has yet to announce his candidate for Deputy Lord Mayor or who will be making up his team’s councillor ticket, Cr Reece has wasted no time in revealing several initiatives he hopes to implement should he be successful come October 25.

Among them is the establishment of a “Melbourne 3000 Board”, which would include up to 10 eminent Melburnians and “help cultivate, implement, and deliver major ideas” for the city.

The inaugural board would consist of Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) CEO Paul Guerra as chair, Lucas Restaurants CEO Chris Lucas, and Victorian Racing Club CEO and outgoing CEO of Marvel Stadium Kylie Rogers.

“Melbourne is the best and fairest city in the world, but we can’t rest on our laurels. We know other cities are stepping up their efforts and we need to do the same,” Cr Reece said.

As Lord Mayor, I want to bring our city’s people together and work closely with our leaders so we can seize every opportunity for Melbourne in the years and decades ahead.

In addition to the new board, Cr Reece is promising to “light up Melbourne” under a new $10 million plan to boost tourism, night-time trading and increase safety across the city.

The first part of the plan is the Light Your Laneway program which will transform 20 of Melbourne’s laneways with new designer decorative lighting, “to keep business booming for our hospitality industry after dark”.

The $8 million program, to be rolled out over four years, would install catenary lighting, and wall-washer lighting in selected laneways across the CBD.

Catenary lighting is already in place in Bourke, Lonsdale and Little Collins streets, which Cr Reece said had transformed the atmosphere and vibrancy of these streets after dark.

The second part of the Light Up Melbourne Plan will see a new $2 million Brighter Buildings grants program help light up some of the city’s most iconic buildings.

Under the competitive program, building owners and operators would be able to apply for grants to improve facade lighting design to illuminate their buildings at night.

“Lighting up Melbourne will make this great city of ours even better, and help our hospitality industry and our famous night-time economy continue to thrive,” Cr Reece said.

“Melbourne has the best heritage buildings and modern architecture in Australia – this plan will enhance the beauty and safety of our city at night and create a captivating experience for visitors.”

“I want to make Melbourne cleaner and safer for everyone, and for our city and laneways to be a place that people want to visit at night and where everyone feels safe and welcome.”

“This is all part of my plan to be a Lord Mayor who Gets Good Done and works hard every single day to deliver what matters to the people of Melbourne.” •