NEWS DESK
CEO casts doubt on council cost comparisons Neil Walker neil@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie is questioning the veracity of figures which show shire councillor expenses far exceed those at neighbouring councils. A ratepayer at last Monday evening’s public council meeting asked Mr Cowie to explain why shire councillors’ expenses in the previous 201216 council term “are so high in comparison” to Kingston and Frankston (“Shire’s councillors are costly”, The News 14/11/16). Eleven shire councillors claimed $616,712 in ratepayer-funded expenses over four years compared to $205,329 for Frankston’s nine council-
lors and $101,807 for Kingston’s nine councillors over the same period. Mr Cowie said he doubted the expenses were a “like with like” comparison and “after a discussion with Matt Green, chief financial officer, it seems that these numbers do not have the same things included for comparison”. “We will find out more information about what is included in the Frankston and Kingston numbers, but our councillor expenses are well explained in each annual report,” Mr Cowie said. “So, unfortunately, this is probably not reported accurately in the media but we will get you a correct answer to this.” No-one at council had questioned or disputed any media reports about shire councillor expenses before Mr Cowie’s public comments last Monday
(28 November). The shire refused to disclose councillor expenses spending for the full 2012-16 council term until after October’s council elections (“Four-month delay on costs”, The News 21/11/16). Both Frankston and Kingston councils listed councillor expenses in annual reports for the full four years of the previous 2012-16 council terms. The shire listed expenses for just two of the four years in its annual reports after the state government forced all councils to publish councillor expenses from the 2014-15 financial year onwards. The shire councillor expenses figures had been requested by The News for four months before the shire released the expenses information after the elections.
Three councillors – Antonella Celi, Hugh Fraser and Bev Colomb – were re-elected to council. Seven former councillors decided not to stand for re-election. David Garnock missed out on reelection to Kate Roper in Cerberus ward. Shire councillor spending on training, conferences and seminars far outstripped Frankston and Kingston councillor expenses over four years, according to figures officially released by all three councils. Shire councillors spent $121,154 on such expenses over four years; Frankston councillors spent $52,293; and Kingston councillors spent just $5135 on two training courses. Shire chief financial officer Matt Green, who began work at council sev-
en months ago, has refused to provide details or the names of any courses, conferences and seminars attended by shire councillors during the previous four-year council term. Despite the refusal to provide a breakdown of shire councillor expenses it seems the shire can allocate staff time and resources to analyse Frankston and Kingston councillor expenses. Shire councillors – including eight newly-elected representatives – plan to agree on a new councillor expenses policy in February next year after receiving a report from a council-appointed committee. Mr Cowie was appointed council CEO in December 2014. He succeeded Michael Kennedy who was shire CEO for nearly 16 years.
Call for action ‘not talk’ over danger intersections Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au FEARS have been raised that another person will be killed before improvements are made to the two increasingly congested intersections linking Mt Martha to Nepean Highway. A pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Forest Drive and Nepean Highway in 2014, resulting in a 700-signature petition to VicRoads urging the authority to upgrade traffic conditions at the access points of Forest Drive and nearby Uralla Rd. But despite the Mornington Peninsula’s soaring population and increased traffic accessing Mt Martha from the highway, no works have started. Resident Mike Goethel said he had a “substantial folio” of correspondence with VicRoads going back four years. “We are sick of talking because nothing is being done and someone else could be killed,” he said. Mr Goethel attended a meeting between residents, VicRoads and the shire last year, during which VicRoads undertook to begin “suitable safety measures”. But he said the only action so far was to reduce the speed limits from 100kph to 80kph. He said the effect of the speed reduction was negligible”, with accidents still occurring regularly. A further consultation meeting in November was “disappointing”, with conceptual road arrangements presented but no timing or funding guaranteed. VicRoads regional director Aiden McGann said consultation was essential.
Mike Goethel and his wife Margaret fear that another person will die before two Mt Martha intersections are improved. Picture: Gary Sissons
He said almost 300 residents who attended two community workshops at the Dromana Community Hall last month heard about a range of safety measures being considered. He said the aim of the community sessions was to begin a discussion about how people access and exit Mt Martha and the challenges they faced.
“It is important for us to gather information with the benefit of local knowledge, which is going to help us form solutions to make it safer and improve traffic flow.” Mr McGann said the next step was to gather the information and “look at the sentiments” towards the approaches offered.
“Alongside our engineering principles, the input from the community will help us look at what is feasible and what isn't in terms of improvements.” He said VicRoads would present the recommended solutions “in the first half of next year” before submitting a business case for the government to consider.
Options for the intersections include: Roundabout Traffic lights Staged right turn crossings Minor intersection improvements Right hand turn restrictions New access points into Mt Martha, for example, Bay Rd.
Southern Peninsula News 6 December 2016
PAGE 3