Shanks Cr Nathan
| Type of person | Individual |
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Nathan Shanks - Councillor Nathan Shanks
Nathan Shanks was elected Area Councillor in 2018.
GC & J Constructions - Project Manager/ Estimator
"I sort of realised that architecture wasn't the thing for me, I wanted to be more hands-on, more on the tools..." Nathan grew up in Hamley Bridge and still has lots of strong ties to the people he grew up with there. He also spent a lot of time on a tiny blip in the Pacific Ocean on an island called Rarotonga which was, "just a paradise". In later years his parents built a home in Hewett so he moved to Gawler when he was 17. He went to Riverton District High School for years 8 to 10 and always had a keen interest in the wood and tech metal classes. In high school, he actually wanted to be an architect because of how architects were portrayed on TV. He thought them to be the managers of building sites…..
"I was wrong.... 🙂 " His parents realised something needed to change for Nathan’s schooling to keep him on track to finish year 12, his mum and dad chose to enroll him into University Senior College in year 11. This was big change for Nathan but seemed to be enough to re-stimulate him to finish high school. During his time at USC he lived in the CBD and worked at the Original Pancake Kitchen on Hindley St which funnily enough is kind of how he ended up being one of the very first employees at The Java Hut here in Gawler.
"Getting the country boy into the city was a good thing... 🙂" After high school Nathan completed a CERT 1 in carpentry and joinery at TAFE that then lead to an apprenticeship with Modern Miracles. The first official building project he was involved in was the old shops across the road from Stratco in Willaston. While completing his apprenticeship he also worked as a barman at the Bushmans Hotel which is how he met his wife Erin and now has a beautiful little three-and-a-half-year-old girl named Addi. After he completed his apprenticeship he hung up the bartender's apron and started up his own building business doing alterations, additions and even the odd new build. In 2018 he decided to run for council and was then elected. As a local builder trying to do local developments with clients he found dealing with town planners frustrating, but in an epiphany moment he thought *how can u complain about the system before actually understanding the system?* and that's pretty much the reason he ran for council, to figure out how things run behind the curtains.
"Each year it seems like I connect to people more and more, and we do get the little wins here and there..." One of the most rewarding challenges since Nathan’s election has been trying to communicate (to us ratepayers) exactly how Town of Gawler council works. He admits he still has a lot to learn but has been able to help those who have needed that “translator” over the last two and a bit years.
"The bi-product of running for council is having the opportunity to meet some really community-minded people like myself who really care about what goes on in our town". Weekends tend to be as family-based as they can be (with building work and council errands running well into most weekends). So every Saturday morning he takes his daughter Addi to swimming lessons and tries to keep the weekends as laid back as possible to just have fun with family and friends before the start of another busy week.
First shared on Gawler in Photographs ‘Humans of Gawler’ series 18 August 2020.
Photographs by Daniel James Down. Please click here to visit the Gawler in Photographs Facebook page.
Gawler History Team Inc thanks Daniel James Down (Gawler in Photographs) and the subjects of ‘Humans of Gawler’ for allowing us to preserve their profiles and photographs for future generations of Gawlerites to enjoy.
Please click here to view photos of Nathan Shanks.
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