Shire slashed from State funding stream

THE Golden Plains Shire is one of six peri urban municipalities which have been removed from the State Government’s Growing Suburb Fund.

The fund was developed to support infrastructure projects in Melbourne and Geelong’s fast growing outer suburbs, with Golden Plains, Moorabool, Bass Coast, Surf Coast, Baw Baw and Macedon Ranges shires added in 2020.

Those municipalities made up the Peri Urban Group of Rural Councils, and will no longer be able to access the fund despite still seeing significant population growth.

A total of $6.5 million from the fund has been used for projects in the Golden Plains Shire on projects like Inverleigh Active Youth Space, which cost nearly $1.5 million and the more than $800,000 Bannockburn Skate Park Upgrade.

Golden Plains Shire CEO Eric Braslis said the move is deeply concerning.

“The primary purpose of the Growing Suburbs Fund has been to provide vital financial support to councils facing substantial population growth,” he said.

“Golden Plains Shire, along with our fellow peri-urban councils, has experienced some of the most rapid population growth in Victoria.”

Mr Braslis said that a reduction of the Growing Suburbs Fund from $50 million to $10 million in the State budget had already created strain on the region.

“Removing eligibility for this funding for peri-urban councils altogether exacerbates the strain on councils like Golden Plains Shire, which now face the loss of one of the few substantial funding sources available to our region,” he said.

Member for Eureka, Michaela Settle, said projects currently backed via the fund are still set to go ahead including the $3.9 million Rokewood Community Sports Hub.

“I look forward to watching this project get underway in the coming year,” she said.

Following the removal of the Shire from the finding stream, Ms Settle said she will continue to advocate for government support of projects in the municipality.

“I will continue working closely with the Golden Plains Shire to advocate for significant local projects, like the Teesdale Recreation Reserve development funded in the last budget,” she said.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said the Growing Suburbs Fund will now revert to the original 10 interface local government areas on Melbourne’s fringe, which have received money from the pool since 2015.

“We’re investing $10 million in this year’s budget in the Growing Suburbs Fund to support critical community infrastructure needs,” the spokesperson said.