CRRA PRESIDENT'S UPDATE ON CURRENT ISSUES IN CARDINIA SHIRE

Draft Budget. CRRA has forwarded a request to Council for earlier community access to the 2005-2006 Draft Budget. Council has responded that budget details will be released in May with information sessions held prior to that, allowing more time for community comment. We have also requested removal of the $100 municipal levy. Council's response is to ask for alternative suggestions on how the $2.2 million revenue from the levy could be raised. Please send us your suggestions, which CRRA will coordinate and send to Council.

Draft Local Laws 9 and 10. CRRA has registered its objection about Council's failure to consult with the community on new local laws relating to such issues as use of recreational vehicles, restrictions on keeping of animals, septic tanks, and open-air burning. As a result - but not without much wasting of time and money - consultation will now occur and new laws will, we hope, reflect community attitudes and needs. Submissions to Council are due by 30 April.

Pakenham Golf Course. Council's proposal to sell Pakenham Golf Course for development of a 600-lot housing project has proceeded since June 2004 behind closed doors, with the chosen developer now named. This secretive process will culminate in late April in a five-day hearing to be held in Melbourne, restricting access by interested residents and objectors - surely the ultimate insult to the community. Council's excuse - there is no room for the hearing available at Cardinia. (see STOP PRESS page 8.)

Review of Ward boundaries. The review is to be conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission (see article in this issue by Keith Ewenson). Council has made a submission, but it is unlikely that the end result will be influenced in any way by community opinion. The most effective action ratepayers can take is to focus on selection of candidates for the November council election who will represent the interests of residents and ratepayers, and ensure that future councillors are left in no doubt of what the community expects of them.

CHANGES TO WARD BOUNDARIES
In November this year you will be voting for ward candidates for Council - this time to serve for three years, and subsequently for four.

There are two types of municipalities: subdivided and unsubdivided. Cardinia to date has always been subdivided into wards. There are currently seven wards each with one councillor.

For truly democratic representation it is important for all voters to be equally represented, and to achieve this each ward should have the same number of voters. You can imagine what occurs in a growth corridor when the number of voters may increase dramatically. I have been advised that the imbalance between voter numbers in different wards in Cardinia could be as high as 30 percent when only 10 percent tolerance is allowable. To address this problem ward boundaries are shifted.

The Democratic Reform Act 2003 of the Victorian State Government stipulates a review of the boundaries every two years by the Electoral Commissioners, and the Victorian Electoral Commission held a public meeting on 24 February at the Shire Offices to inform ratepayers about the review.

One thing is certain: there will be changes when you vote in November 2005. There will not necessarily be one councillor per ward. There may be more, but if this occurs my tip is there will be fewer wards.

Keith Ewenson