General News
11 April, 2023
New structure on the cards
CORANGAMITE Shire could soon have a new local government representative structure with residents having just hours to get their submission in.
CORANGAMITE Shire could soon have a new local government representative structure with residents having just hours to get their submission in.
An independent panel appointed by the Minister for Local Government has been reviewing the Shire’s electoral structure to bring it in line with the Local Government Act 2020.
The Act does not allow the current mixed system of multi-member and single-member wards.
It looked at:
Whether the council had an appropriate number of councillors; and
Whether it should be unsubdivided or subdivided.
The preliminary report released late last month presented three electoral structure models for further public consultation:
Unsubdivided with seven councillors;
Four wards with two councillors each; and
Seven wards with one councillor each
Corangamite Shire Councillors met for a special meeting last Tuesday to discuss making a submission to the panel.
Councillors voted to put their support behind option three which would see seven wards with one councillor each, although there would be changes to ward boundaries.
Cr Geraldine Conheady said model three was her preferred option.
“I believe the ward structure in Corangamite has served our community very effectively over many local government terms,” she said.
“I note in the VEC remarks that they appear concerned by our level of uncontested elections in some wards.
“But I don’t believe that has prevented new candidates from stepping forward.
“After each general election we have new councillors at our table. This council there was five new faces and I think the previous had four new faces.”
Cr Conheady said she did not believe an unstructured ward system would be as effective.
“I believe the ward structure with the councillors has been very good for Corangamite and that’s the feedback I’m getting for people in the community,” she said.
Cr Laurie Hickey said he had also been receiving feedback to say the community was supportive of the ward structure.
“I’d encourage people to get a submission into the VEC,” he said.
Cr Jo Beard thanked the community for making submissions into the preliminary report.
“I certainly encourage our residents to do the same thing again,” she said.
“It has worked, we have been heard.”
According to the preliminary report, 21 submissions were received regarding the Corangamite Shire Council electoral structure review.
A total of 11 submissions commented on councillor numbers, with seven councillors being the most favoured number.
There was strong public support for retaining the current number of councillors, with 10 submissions advocating this position.
Most of these submissions wanted to see the least change to the status quo or felt that seven councillors was the right number for the shire relative to other councils.
Most public submissions proposed retaining a ward structure, half of which wanted single councillor wards, with the other half suggesting various ward structures.
There were two submissions which advocated for an unsubdivided ward structure.
The two submissions proposing an unsubdivided structure argued it would decrease perceived parochialism, create shire-wide accountability, and help reduce the high prevalence of uncontested elections.
There was significant support in submissions for adopting a single-councillor ward structure.
A total of nine submitters supported this position, including Corangamite Shire Council.
The council referred to the shire’s diversity in relation to different agricultural industries between the north and south and various other geographic and demographic differences, reasoning single councillor wards would best represent these distinct communities of common interest.
Response submissions should address the options presented in the preliminary report.
People interested in making a response submission can use the public submission tool or view other submission options on the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) website at vec.vic.gov.au/corangamite
If people ask to speak in support of their response submission, an online public hearing will be held for Corangamite Shire Council on Tuesday, April 18.
More information about the public hearing will soon be available on the council review page of the VEC website at vec.vic.gov.au/corangamite.
The panel encourages all Victorians in the councils under review to contribute to the review process and have their say.
All response submissions for the review of Corangamite Shire Council must be received by 5 pm next Wednesday, April 12.