By Colin MacGillivray
FORMER Mitchell Shire Council and City of Whittlesea chief executive David Turnbull’s life of service in local government was granted national recognition last week as he was posthumously awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM.
Mr Turnbull spent most of his professional career in local government, serving as director of planning and development at Bulla Shire Council between 1983 and 1995 before joining the City of Whittlesea in the same role.
In 2007 he became the City of Whittlesea chief executive, serving until 2015 when he filled the same post at Mitchell Shire Council.
Mr Turnbull stepped down from his council position in 2020 after a long battle with cancer and died later that year.
His wife, Suzane Becker, remembered Mr Turnbull as someone who cared deeply about the communities he worked in, striving to make life better for communities on Melbourne’s urban fringe.
“With David it was always about the community,” she said.
“He had a passion for always trying to make a positive difference, both in the planning world – because he was very well respected in planning, especially growth areas and new communities – but also from a local government perspective.
“He was able to make organisations stronger with his leadership and brought out the best in others.”
Mr Turnbull was instrumental in establishing the National Growth Areas Alliance – an advocacy body representing growth areas across Australia.
“The work he did on developer contribution planning and structure planning is the benchmark for the controls that we have in State Government. A lot of that came from David’s work,” Ms Becker said.
“He was Victoria’s leader in growth-area planning.”
Mitchell Shire Council Mayor Fiona Stevens said Mr Turnbull would be remembered for his commitment to social justice in disadvantaged communities by ensuring they had ‘quality services, strong community engagement, advocacy, innovation, strong financial management and planning’.
“I had the privilege of working with David as CEO at Mitchell since the elections in 2016,” she said.
“In that short time he left a lasting legacy to our community and, over 40 years in local government, he also left a lasting impact on the sector.”
City of Whittlesea chair administrator Lydia Wilson said Mr Turnbull had a ‘significant impact’ in shaping the region.
“He was greatly respected by staff and community alike for his calm and considered approach to leadership and his genuine interest and care to all,” she said.
“I had the personal pleasure of working with him as a colleague over many years and he was a true humanitarian.
“David is remembered for his legacy in many areas and was a pioneer in growing the role of local government advocacy. He also led council through the challenging aftermath of the 2009 bushfires.”
Mr Turnbull received the Paul Jerome Award for Outstanding Public Service from the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association in 2006 and had the David Turnbull Memorial Prize named in his honour by RMIT University, but Ms Becker said his greatest legacy was in the personal relationships he built.
“David really cared about communities. There was a real genuineness about him,” she said.
“The amount of respect he had in the industry is one of his legacies.
“He built relationships across so many different groups and stakeholders and was really highly regarded by everyone he worked with.”
