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INSIDE
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caseyweeklyberwick.com.au
Farm rates respite proposed BY CATHERINE WATSON FARMERS in the urban growth zone would have the bulk of their rates bill deferred under a plan proposed by a Casey councillor. Cr Geoff Ablett said rate bills of up to $85,000 were driving Casey’s market gardeners, beef farmers and horse trainers off the land. At last week’s council meeting, he proposed that the council charge genuine farmers a multiple of the average residential rate bill. If the average rate was $1500, he said, farm rate bills might be capped at $10,000, with payment of the balance, plus interest, deferred until the land was sold. ‘‘If they have a 20-hectare property and sold it for $400,000-$500,000 a hectare to a developer, even if they owed the council $300,000 for rates, they’ve still got $7-$8 million to spend.’’ Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell has stated
that councils can impose a lower differential rate on farms outside the UGB but rising rates inside the UGB were a result of market forces and councils should not intervene to artificially lower them. Cr Ablett said he had visited about a dozen farms to get a consensus view on ways to keep people farming. ‘‘They do want to be in the UGB. Some have sold to developers, some want to sell in the future. ‘‘But for farmers it’s a nightmare trying to find $50,000 to pay a rates bill. ‘‘It’s in our own interest to allow them to leave at a time of their own choosing and to keep them farming as long as possible.’’ Councillors voted to investigate his proposal. Officers will report back on the average rate payment across all properties in Casey and how the interest on outstanding rates is calculated under the Local Government Act.
COVER: Pakenham OzChild volunteer Kathryn helps youngsters through tough times. See page 8. Picture: Gary Sissons
Hoon hope: Offences plummet as hoon drivers and police work together. Page 5
7 8 10 22
Land of hope: Peter White wants to keep farming on his Cranbourne property. Picture: Rob Carew
Farmers pay the price as land values soar in the growth areas LONG-time Cranbourne horse trainer Ray McMahon welcomes Cr Geoff Ablett’s proposal to allow farmers inside the urban growth boundary to defer their rates until they sell up. Mr McMahon faced a $15,000 rates bill after the council rezoned his 15-hectare property in Thompsons Road, opposite the new Marriott Waters shopping centre, from rural to industrial. He said that when he approached someone at the council about the rise, ‘‘he virtually told me to sell up or go and get a loan’’. Instead, Mr McMahon diversified into cattle to try to raise the money. ‘‘Every year you have to make enough money to pay the rates, then you have to try to make a
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living. It’s just too hard.’’ He said an elderly neighbour on a two-hectare block was struggling to pay a $5000 rates bill out of her pension. ‘‘She’ll probably have to sell.’’ Across the suburb, in Berwick-Clyde Road, beef farmer Peter White faces an $85,000 rates bill for his 80-hectare farm, which is included in the UGB. With housing estates rapidly approaching from the east and west, Mr White’s property is worth between $30 million and $40 million but he really just wants to keep farming it. He points out the heritage-listed driveway and the grand old house.
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‘‘We’ve got a beautiful place and we just want to stay here.’’ Like Cr Ablett, he believes farm rates should be capped at a maximum multiple of the farm rate. ‘‘The average rate is about $1200 and we’re paying about 70 times that.’’ Mr McMahon, who has owned his property for more than 45 years, said most properties were overvalued. ‘‘The valuations are based on the boom times and the boom times are gone. Last year a developer offered me what the land was worth about 15 years ago. The prices are back to rural values.’’
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May 28, 2013 WEEKLY – YOUR COMMUNITY VOICE [ 3 ]