Councillor David Kerrison’s family has a long history in the One Tree Hill community, settling to the township in the mid1800s.

His deep connection to the land and rural environment has been influenced by his family since the day he was born.

“I love the land – most of my spare time is spent at home with family,” Cr Kerrison said. “We have a small farm of 750 acres, predominately running sheep and a few cattle occasionally. "Some of the land is currently cropped and I enjoy managing the land and living the rural lifestyle.”

Cr Kerrison sat in the picturesque location of McGlip Recreation Park, reflecting on his school days when he frequented the community space regularly.

“This is the heart of the community this sporting facility, it brings the community together,” he said. “My grandfather spent many hours up here volunteering time to assist with the tennis and cricket clubs over the years.”

The reserve has been a passion project of this Elected Member and City of Playford as they continue to advocate for funding to support improvements to its facilities.

“Our township is at maximum size under the current planning regulations however what we need is improvements to our facilities – so we need to work with what we`ve got and strive to improve these," he said.

As a real estate agent Cr Kerrison has seen a lot of growth within Playford as well as the ward he serves.

“The community has also grown over the years predominately around the main street," he said. "The developments of Jordan Drive, Rose Ave. and Lorna Court have come into existence from the late 1980s – early 1990s. "So there has been a fair amount of growth over my time as a community member. "The sporting facilities haven’t kept pace with the community`s growth and it needs updating to cope with the increased usage."

Cr Kerrison was elected on to the City of Playford Council in 2018 for Ward 3 and committed to driving efficiencies for the community, managing debt and improving transparency.

“We need to be a very efficient machine to deliver for our community especially being in a growth zone," he said. ”We have so much to do and so much to deliver. We need to be sharp with our pencil and have everything operating at it`s optimum.”

The City of Playford`s four-year Strategic Plan identified “using money wisely” as a key driver.

The adoption of this plan made a further commitment to be financially sustainable, continuing to deliver to the community, while investing in assets that meet the social and infrastructure needs of the growing city.

“I am very strong on rolling out core services and improving our delivery from roadside and footpath management to reserves,“ he said. “I think it`s the sense of community that is important to me because it`s my local area. "There is a lot of connection here from my family history and I think the area has a really nice community feel to it.”