Mail - Ferntree Gully Mail - 07th June 2016

Page 1

Ferntree Gully

Belgrave

Mail Covering the Dandenongs in the Yarra Ranges & Cardinia Shires

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2 Tuesday, 7 June, 2016

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‘No change’ wards By JESSE GRAHAM PRESSURE from council and the community has prompted Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins to overturn the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)’s proposed shift to a three-ward council. Yarra Ranges Mayor Jason Callanan announced on Facebook on Thursday 2 June that the minister had overturned the VEC’s proposed ward change that would have turned the Yarra Ranges’ nine wards into three, each with three councillors. Cr Callanan said that two wards had “very minor boundary movements” to accommodate population changes, but that the council structure of nine wards, nine councillors would be unchanged. “There was a great amount of work behind the scenes by councillors, staff and the community,” he wrote. “Our council structure will remain the same for the next four years!” The announcement comes after the VEC concluded its review of the council’s electoral structure last year and proposed that the council change to three large multi-councillor wards. Numerous councillors made submissions against any proposed change as part of the review, with many expressing concerns after the final recommendation was released. Mt Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association’s Franc Smith, posted on the Mail’s Facebook page that he, Jan and Jean Edwards wrote and submitted “formal appeals” to Ms Hutchins. Though he submitted in favour of a changed ward structure, he wrote that the final recommendation from the VEC was not one of their three discussed options, and “cut Mount Evelyn in half along Hereford Road”. “Who wrote it, who mapped it, but more seriously who authorised

it?” he wrote. “Unless there is due diligence, Mount Evelyn in the future Electoral Representation Reviews will be cut to ribbons and will lose its identity.” Ms Hutchins, in a letter to Cr Callanan, said that though she believed the VEC’s review was “undertaken with objectivity, impartiality and rigor’, she was not convinced there were sufficient grounds to change the council model. Ryrie Ward councillor Fiona McAllister, who was against the change, said she was “really pleased” with the minister’s decisions. She said Ms Hutchins and Deputy Premier and Monbulk MP James Merlino had “understood” the council’s concerns with the change when meeting with them - particularly the geographic size of the wards. The proposed new O’Shannassy Ward would have covered the entire Yarra Valley from Healesville to Warburton and Lilydale - with the other wards covering the urban area of the council and the Dandenong Ranges. “It would have been a really significant shift to go to the three-bythree,” Cr McAllister said. “That model’s been much more successful in the smaller but much denser urban areas in metropolitan Melbourne. “I can certainly see the benefits of having multi-member wards but I can also see the benefit of retaining the structure we’ve got.” Cr McAllister said she also had concerns about the changes being so close to the council election at the end of the year. “To have declared a change of that significance so close to the election would have been really problematic for a lot of people,” she said. To read the VEC review reports, visit www.vec.vic.gov.au.

Circus no sideshow IT’S time to shake of the winter doldrums and do something amazing this winter, with the Burrinja Circus Festival ready to swing into action. Between Saturday 25 June and Sunday 3 July Burrinja and Ruccis are bringing a jam-packed circus program to the region, complete with workshops, student shows and a professional circus extravaganza. The event is perfect for the whole family. For more details, visit www.burrinja.org.au. Pictured, from left, are entertainers Emily Huybers, Sam Brew and Picture: ROB CAREW Miranda Walker. 154953

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