On my way home after interviewing Jill Reardon, my thoughts turned to Leo Tolstoy and his huge and hugely successful novel, War and Peace.

You would nearly have to have been a weightlifter to pick up the book which, depending on the publisher, runs anywhere between 1,200 and 1,400 pages!

Such was the wealth of information gathered about Jill’s life. She has spent most of her years serving her community in a variety of roles, including as a long-serving councillor for both Hawkesbury and Baulkham Hills councils.

Jill served three terms over 13 years at Baulkham Hills, beginning in 1991 and continuing until 2004, when she and her husband Roger relocated from “The Garden Shire” to, well, let’s just say “God’s Own Country”.

After four years of encouragement from former Hills residents and admirers now living in the Hawkesbury, she decided to contest the 2008 Hawkesbury City Council election.

To nobody’s surprise, she was duly elected, beginning a journey of service to the Hawkesbury community that still continues today. Remarkably, this amazing woman remains a bundle of energy.

“Roger and I love this marvellous locality — Hawkesbury has so much to offer its heritage, rural vistas, natural beauty and village atmosphere,” Jill enthused.

“All these things make Hawkesbury such a wonderful place to live.”

Council business understandably takes up a large part of Jill’s life, but she has always made time for family, friends and her favourite hobbies gardening and bushwalking.

Your writer naturally asked Jill why she had devoted so much of her adult life to serving the community as a councillor.

“Throughout my life of diverse interests and jobs, I’ve never stopped wanting to help people, especially those lost in the system,” she said.

This remarkable woman has given so much to the community, which she emphatically says has given even more back in return.

Jill is a member of Hawkesbury Health Service’s Community Board of Advice, the Kurrajong Country Women’s Association, Kurrajong-Comleroy Historical Society, the Hawkesbury-Nepean Flood Mitigation Action Committee and the Hawkesbury Healthcare Engagement Committee.

She does what she does out of a genuine love for humanity.

Thankfully, Jill’s contribution has been recognised. She was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2003 for Service to Local Government and the Environment, as well as an Outstanding Service Award for her years of dedication to the people of NSW through local government.

Since leaving Cheltenham Girls High School with her HSC, Jill has worked as a secretary, conservation and land management officer, travel consultant and in secretarial roles at International Harvester in Lidcombe, where she met manager Roger Reardon.

“I was a divorcee with a daughter, Merrilyn, but Roger and I hit it off from the beginning. Romance followed and then marriage in 1984,” Jill said.

“We are now proud grandparents to four boys and great-grandparents to another five children.”

I asked Jill which achievements she believed had made the greatest positive impact on the Hawkesbury.

“One proposal involved constructing a retirement village and nursing home on the recently sold Peel Dairy land,” she said.

“As it was a seniors living development, under State Environmental Planning Policy no rezoning was required, and because State policies override local planning laws it would have been difficult to refuse.

“The North Richmond Residents Action Group was formed to fight the proposal because they did not want to lose their rural views, and I fully understood that.

“People don’t like change. However, my view was different because it was obvious a nursing home was urgently needed in the area, and council eventually approved it.

“The Redbank development application later followed on the remaining Peel Dairy land. Our council officers worked with the developer to find solutions to reduce peak-hour traffic congestion.

“They secured a Voluntary Planning Agreement with the developer worth $55 million in infrastructure, including a third river crossing over the Grose River.”

Another project Jill is particularly proud of is the Macdonald River Restoration Project, which over the years has seen fish return to the river.

She also highlighted the protection, conservation and restoration of Wilberforce Cemetery as a major achievement for the community.

“It is a cemetery of national significance,” she said. “It contains rich and rare evidence of Australia’s earliest ex-convict pioneer society building a community.”

Jill said much of council business happens away from the public eye.

“I remember back in 2010 when a council report proposed selling off Pioneer Village at Wilberforce,” she recalled.

“A community group called Friends of the Pioneer Village wanted to take it over and run it with volunteers. They had prepared a business plan and only needed $20,000 to restore it.

“Before the council meeting, I went into the mayor’s office and explained that I could not support the sell-off. I reminded the mayor it was the 200th anniversary of the Macquarie Towns and that the group deserved a chance.

“To my delight, the mayor agreed, and now Pioneer Village is still going strongly. I am so proud of what they have achieved.”

And Jill, your community is proud of you too for the tremendous contribution you have made over so many years.

MAIN PHOTO: When’s she’s not attending Hawkesbury City Council meetings, Jill Reardon loves nothing better than being at home with husband, Roger and their (spoiled?) cattle.

PHOTO: Propping up former Prime Minister, John Howard, are Roger and Jill Reardon. The trio were among the special guests who were invited to attend the Royal Australian Air Force 100th anniversary celebrations at Richmond RAAF Base.