Page 12 The Moorabool News – 21 December, 2021
News
Email - news@themooraboolnews.com.au
Scrapbook contains history By Lachlan Ellis A locally published book shines a light on the history of the ‘Bungeeltap’ property south of Ballan, with hundreds of pages of photos and information spread over two volumes. Arthur Ranken compiled and published ‘The Bungeeltap Scrapbook’, which he said was a passion project that had been years in the making. “It explains the development of the Ballan area from day go. Cowie, Stead and Von Steiglitz came up the East Moorabool River and found open timber grassland, and decided that would be a good place to graze their livestock. Bungeeltap was originally 30,000 acres, and extended from the Moorabool River across to the EgertonBallark Road, up towards the Egerton-Ballan Road,” Mr Ranken told the Moorabool News. “My parents owned Bungeeltap from 1944 to 1984, and took it from 32 bales of wool a year to 260 bales of wool a year,” he said. Mr Ranken said the Scrapbook took about eight years to fiddle with. “The current owner asked if I would put down a few notes on the history that I knew
of the property, but I knew a lot more than just the period my parents had it.” While the intention of the Scrapbook was to document the history of the area, Mr Ranken said it might make a good Christmas stocking filler for Moorabool’s history buffs. “I was always fascinated with the growth of the property and incorporated through the book, you’ll find at the beginning of the chapters, I’ve given a new set of figures for what the property was carrying and how many bales of wool were produced,” he said. “We always enjoyed recording the development of the property. Any new thing that was done tended to get photographed, you can look back on it and have a bit of fun seeing how the place did develop. “Some people might like the idea of giving it as a Christmas present. But my intention with it was to document the history…in 50 years’ time I won’t be around, others with historical knowledge won’t be around, so it’s important to document these things now.” The Bungeeltap Scrapbook’s two volumes are available for $65, at the Ballan Newsagency or via email to the Ballan Shire Historical Society - bshsinc@hotmail.com.au
Letters to the Editor W R I T ING LET T ER S TO T H E EDI TOR Each letter must be accompanied with the writer’s full name, address and phone number (name and suburb for publication only) and be limited to 300 words. Letters to be received via post or email (preferred option). The Editor has the right to limit the amount of words in each letter received and published letters are at the discretion of the Editor. Send your letters to news@themooraboolnews.com.au Dear Editor, The old tradition of leaving a bottle or two of beer out for the garbos at the end of the year may be a thing of the past, but you can still say thank you to waste collection workers and other essential local government workers this Christmas. At each of Victoria's 79 local councils, local government workers deliver essential services that we rely on every day. From road workers to librarians, emergency management specialists, aged and disability care workers, and the workers who are up collecting our bins and recycling while most of us are still in bed, local government workers keep our communities running. I remember when it was the done thing to put out a bottle of beer or two for the garbos collecting the rubbish. It was a genuine gesture of thanks to workers we didn't often see and maybe didn't even know. The work of waste collection has changed a lot with skilled workers driving high-tech vehicles and collecting bins at a rate that the fittest waste collection workers would have struggled to match when bins were manually grabbed off the kerb and tipped into a truck. But the work is just as important, and the workers performing it are just as committed to doing the best job they can. So even if it's not with a bottle of beer, say a big thank you to waste collection workers this Christmas by giving them a friendly wave in recognition of the critically important work they do. Lisa Darmanin, Secretary, Australian Services Union
Dear Editor, This Christmas will be tough for the 49,000 Victorians who lost their job in October and for small business owners, like those in hospitality and accommodation, that are still desperately struggling to fill staffing rosters. News last week week from the Federal Liberal and Nationals Government of a $103 billion rebound in our national economy is an early Christmas present we all benefit from. But it’s a stark contrast to the recent news of the ballooning $162 billion debt hole in the Victorian economy. Victoria risks being left behind without new, bold ideas to set our state on track to recover and rebuild. The Victorian Liberals and Nationals believe that restoring our state’s crown as the nation’s manufacturing powerhouse is a crucial step towards this goal. Three decades ago, manufacturing employment accounted for about 17.2 per cent of our state’s jobs market. At the end of August 2021, that had sunk to 8.4 per cent. The COVID pandemic is just one contributor to this decline. Investment in the private sector to assist in job creation is what the Liberal and National parties do best. That is why at this critical time, we will make it a priority to recover and rebuild our manufacturing sector with a $2.5 billion Rebuilding Jobs, Bringing Manufacturing Home Fund. It will create thousands of jobs, provide huge certainty for our supply chains that are currently lacking and give career choices to young people, particularly those outside of Melbourne with a minimum of $1 billion to be spend in regional Victoria. Globally, manufacturing is transforming rapidly, and Victoria must keep up. A vibrant manufacturing sector is critically important to help our state recover and rebuild. Peter Walsh, Leader of The Nationals Shadow Minister for Regional Victoria
Arthur Ranken compiled and published ‘The Bungeeltap Scrapbook’. Photo Helen Tatchell
Rate the rating strategy … next year By Lachlan Ellis Rates are always a hot topic, and while Council’s power to change them is not absolute, it will seek community feedback next year. Council is conducting a Rate Review to form part of the 2022/23 Revenue and Rating Plan, and as part of the review, it will consult with the community. The Rate Strategy Review Community Engagement proposal was initially moved by Cr Edwards at Council’s 1 December Ordinary Meeting, then seconded by Cr Tatchell, and supported unanimously by Council. However, Cr Tatchell lodged his intention to do a rescission motion later in the meeting, due to confusion from the meeting briefly running out of order, and his intention to present an alternate motion. The motion before the Rate Strategy Review Community Engagement proposal was accidentally skipped, causing some confusion, and Cr Tatchell was unable to put forward his alternate motion. “With respect Mr Mayor, I think we’re missing 14.2 (the Rate Strategy Review Community Engagement)…were we out of order, Mr Mayor?” Cr Tatchell asked. “No, I accidentally jumped 14.1…we went back to 14.1 after dealing with 15.1,” Mayor Cr Sullivan replied. “On that basis, I’ll just have to note that I’ll be rescinding the Rating Strategy then. I was out of order in terms of my documents with yours,
I did have an alternate motion that needed to be foreshadowed.” Cr Tatchell’s rescission motion must be lodged 96 hours before Council’s next Ordinary Meeting, which will be held early February 2022 due to the Christmas break – meaning the Rate Strategy Review will not go to consultation before then. The original proposal contains three rating models to be put to the people of Moorabool: • Option 1 - Make no change to the current differential categories and associated rating levels. • Option 2 - Decrease the farmland differential from 78% to a range between 70% and 65% and extractive industries from 312% to a range between 280% and 260% of general rates and make no change to the other differential categories. • Option 3 - Introduce a municipal charge of between $100 and $200 and make no change to the current differential categories and associated rating levels. The proposal also makes clear that while rate categories, level of categories, and municipal charges can be altered by Council, the value of rate revenue and valuations of land are out of Council’s hands. If the motion is approved next year, it will allow online comments through Council’s ‘Have Your Say’ site, in-person meetings with consultants at drop-in sessions, and have a report prepared for Council, before the 2022/23 Revenue and Rating Plan can be approved.
Property Valuations The Valuer General Victoria is the sole Valuation Authority for Victorian Local Government. From 1 July 2019 annualised valuations will occur. How are Valuations derived and applied? To determine property values throughout the municipality, a qualified valuer is appointed by the Valuer General Victoria. The valuation assesses the amount a property would sell for at a specific date. The latest property sales, rental data, land type, buildings and their condition as well as other property improvements are also analysed as part of the valuation process. A profile of value levels for each area and property type in the municipality is then constructed and applied to individual properties. What do the Valuations mean? The annual rate notice provides three types of valuations and a brief explanation of each is as follows: Site Value = Value of the land only (excluding all improvements) Capital Improved Value (CIV) = Total market value of the land including buildings and all other improvements. Net Annual Value (NAV) = Current value of a property’s net annual rent. By law, NAV must be at least 5% of the CIV (EG: Gross annual rent less all outgoings) Can I object to my Valuation? A person aggrieved by a valuation of any land made by or for Council may lodge a written objection with Council on any one or more of the grounds set out in Part III, Division 3, Section 17 of the Valuation of Land Act (VLA) 1960.