SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
(Shawn Smits)
Whittlesea’s lap of honour Elaine and Terry Mountney will take their beloved 1966 Dodge Phoenix (pictured) out for a spin this Saturday to celebrate completion of the $3 million redevelopment of Church Street by Whittlesea council. They’ll be joined by a bevy of rev-heads doing ‘church laps’, between 10.30am and 12.30pm. Mayor Ricky Kirkham will ‘unveil’ the new streetscape at 11am. The Mountneys say the wider pavements and meeting spaces will liven up the area. The Eden Park couple organise the monthly Whittlesea Cruising Night when like-minded car enthusiasts are invited to join them for a cruise up and down Church Street on the first Friday of each month. Cr Kirkham says the makeover has transformed the busy street. “The corner of Church and Lime streets is now a place where people can stop and chat … or just sit on a seat and read,” he said. Whittlesea post office’s Gwenda White approves of the council’s work despite eight months of upheaval in the street while construction was under way. Lexi Cottee TERRY MOUNTNEY
Drop Sunbury split: report By Matt Crossman Supporters of a stand-alone Sunbury council have cried foul after transition auditors recommended the town’s planned split from Hume be abandoned. Those opposed to separation, however, have urged people to move on, calling for an end to the uncertainty they say has hung over Sunbury and Hume for too long. As reported by Star Weekly online, the auditors’ report, presented to Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins on August 28 and released to the public last Thursday, said there were too many concerns about the proposed new council’s viability. ‘‘It is the view of the transition auditors that the separation of Sunbury from the municipality of Hume at this time is so problematic that it
should not proceed,’’ the report by auditors Frank Vincent and John Watson found. The two auditors were appointed by the government in March with a brief to review the separation processes, after the former Liberal government gazetted formal notices that a new Sunbury council would start on July 1 this year. The split was put on hold after Ms Hutchins said too many questions remained unanswered. The auditors said they believed previous financial advice prepared by three consultants affirmed that a Sunbury council was unlikely to be sustainable without significant financial assistance, high rates and/or reduced services. Their report stated any savings that could be achieved through innovations may not provide the secure revenue base needed. It also stated a proposed cross-subsidy from Hume council to Sunbury would constitute a substantial
shift from the well-established principle that councils operate on the rate base generated within their boundaries. The auditors said abandoning the planned split would protect Sunbury ratepayers and ensure planned capital works, including a new global learning centre, would be delivered. ‘‘If they occur, projected population increases would place Sunbury in a better position at some time in the future to support a council from its own rate base,’’ the report noted. Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Bernie Finn said the recommendations were ‘‘no surprise’’, and he urged split supporters not to drop their bundle. Both Mr Finn and Sunbury Residents Association president Bernie O’Farrell accused the government of having made its decision before launching the year-long review.
Mr O’Farrell said split supporters would keep fighting for an independent Sunbury, regardless of Ms Hutchins’ eventual decision, ‘‘even if it takes the election of a new government’’. Sunbury-based Hume councillor Ann Potter says she hopes people will move on. ‘‘We’ve been governing with uncertainty for too long. We want to get on with things, like planning the new global learning centre. There’ve been enough delays.’’ Hume chief executive Domenic Isola said the council held serious concerns about the process undertaken by the previous government, and he welcomed the auditors’ findings. Both Mr Isola and mayor Adem Atmaca urged this government to make its final decision quickly. Ms Hutchins said she would carefully consider the auditors’ recommendations. For more reactions, visit www.starweekly.com.au
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