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Tuesday 17 November 2015
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Mayor and deputy change places IT was a case of role reversal when Cr Graham Pittock, left, was last week elected mayor of Mornington Peninsula Shire. His deputy is Cr Bev Colomb, who was appointed mayor this time last year with Cr Pittock as her deputy. So the leadership of the council - mayor and deputy - will have remained in the same hands for two years when council elections are held next year. In neighbouring Frankston, it was also a case of history nearly being repeated when councillors elected Cr James Dooley mayor. For the second year running councillors broke with tradition in a split five-three vote instead of deciding the winner behind closed doors. Mornington Peninsula’s vote was a bit more public, with Cr Pittock handing a bottle of wine to Cr Andrew Dixon, who came second in the mayoral race. See “Pittock leads way in top jobs swap�, Page 7
Farmers rally to fight rate ‘threat’ David Harrison david@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula farmers are gearing up to oppose any cut to the farm rate “discount� for agricultural land. They now pay 35 per cent of the general residential rate. A message originating from Dromana farmer Cr David Gibb appears to have begun the rural mobilisation. It was prompted by Mornington Peninsula Shire’s planned review of its rating structure. Cr Gibb emailed on 4 November:
“The Farm rate for rural properties, many of whom are Landcare members, is under threat.â€? The message went to the Dunns Creek Landcare Group, with which Cr Gibb is associated, which sent it to its membership with a message from the group’s president, Roger StuartAndrews. His message read in part: “It appears the shire is seriously considering removing the rate rebate on farm properties which would mean that we would be rated as for the general non-rural properties‌
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“[Given] the size of some of our land holdings, this could potentially mean enormously increased rate bills for those of us on the land.� Mr Stuart-Andrews described the shire review as “an iniquitous attack on landholders already fighting rising charges in every direction without a compensatory rise in income from the produce of our land�. Farm properties pay the standard residential rate for the land on which the house is built – the curtilage – and a separate rate that is 35 per cent of the general residential rate.
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Victoria’s Valuation of Land Act defines farm land as “any rateable land ‌ that is used primarily for grazing (including agistment), dairying, pigfarming, poultry-farming, fish-farming, tree-farming, bee-keeping, viticulture, horticulture, fruit-growing or the growing of crops of any kind or for any combination of those activitiesâ€?. It must be used by a business “that has a significant and substantial commercial purpose or character; and that seeks to make a profit on a continuous or repetitive basis from its activities on the landâ€?. Continued Page 5
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The shire had a short community consultation on its rating review, inviting people to send “submissions for consideration in the development of council’s rating strategy�. The original deadline, 9 November, was extended until 13 November in what appears to be a hurried process for such a major matter. The shire document, Rating Strategy Discussion Paper 2016/17 says shire policy “supports the continuation of a farm rate differential� and notes that council’s strategic plan “has a strong commitment to agriculture�.
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