FORMER COUNCILLOR FOR WYNNUM MANLY WARD
Twenty-nine years, eight elections, and countless memories. When Peter Cumming ended his run as Wynnum Manly Ward Councillor last month, some members of the community took the time to look back on his decades of service.
Marilyne Jacob, St Pete’s Pantry Co-ordinator
My first memory of meeting Peter was in May 1994. My family and I had returned to the Bayside and moved into our newly built home at Wynnum North. We were outside when Peter came to introduce himself as our new Councillor. He said words to the effect of, “This is an impressive house!” I replied, “So are the people who live here.”
Over the year we have crossed paths with my involvement with St Peter’s Church, Wynnum/Manly Chamber of Commerce, and other community events we have both attended. In recent times, I became the co-ordinator of St Pete’s Pantry, set up by St Peter’s previous priest Rev Donna Petersen. The Pantry has now been operating three years. It received DGR status in 2021 and we wish to thank Peter for his great support for the pantry since its inception.
St Peter’s Pantry and myself personally, will greatly miss your outstanding work and commitment in our community.
Sandy McDonald, former Manly Hotel publican
Twenty-nine years! It’s an amazing period of public service. The Councillor job is not a 9 to 5 – there’s a lot of nights and most weekends – and Peter was certainly renowned for always showing up and being there. You want people who are available and Peter was certainly that, available to people morning, noon and night.
I don’t know how many pairs of shoes he’s worn out through doorknocking. His efforts have been colossal and I’m sure he could draw maps to rival the Refidex.
He’s been a great representative for the area. Through changes in State and Federal, he’s been a constant. It highlights the importance of local government dealing with local issues. That’s what’s kept him in office for so long – he never forgot that.
Sandy Lawton, Waterloo Bay Leisure Centre manager
Peter Cumming has been a stalwart supporter and regular visitor of the Waterloo Bay Leisure Centre during his time as our local Councillor. Peter has attended and facilitated many events at the Centre; the Citizenship Ceremonies come to mind. Throughout his tenure working for our area Peter has always made himself available to answer queries and assist with grants, ideas and referrals. He has been a great interpreter of Brisbane City Councils bureaucratic structure and we have enjoyed his humorous take on the “rules”.
He is famous for his appetite and has been the recipient of many a fine meal at the Waterloo Bay Leisure Centre. We can always rely on him to buy raffle tickets and to appear at functions where he mingles with the guests and makes himself available for their questions.
It is truly hard to quantify the contribution Peter has made to our community and the Waterloo Bay Leisure Centre. We will miss him and wish him a safe adventure on the next stage of his life.
Des Lawson, Port of Brisbane Rotary Club
Throughout the decades that I have known Peter, I have been able to observe aspects of Peter’s life and have been continually amused by his extravagant sense of humour.
An example of this was when POB Rotary had a social evening. Peter was invited, as usual, and showed up late in the evening after attending many other more important functions. We had learned from previous experience and when he arrived, we had kept several meals for him plus a takeaway box to snack on, should he feel peckish on the 2-kilometre drive home.
I have found that Peter is extremely… frugal, when it comes to money. Yes, I have found it’s true!
I will give you an example. I rang Peter one hot Australia Day morning, when the volunteers were setting up tents for the community breakfast. I asked him to bring down a carton of beer for the workers, as a way of thanking them. I ask that he arrive by 3pm with said beer, as many of the volunteers would have finished their work by that time and would be wanting to get away.
By 3.15pm, and with no sign of Peter, I rang him in frustration. He told me that he had been all over Wynnum and down to Manly, looking for the cheapest beer. I just shook my head – I found it so funny and so Peter!
