Council Briefs

Rate cap variation not sought

After deferring the decision last month, Moorabool Shire Council has voted not to seek a rate cap variation at its 6 March Ordinary Meeting.

The State Government announced in December that the rate cap for the 2024/25 financial year would be 2.75 per cent, with any variation above that figure requiring State Government approval.

Moorabool Shire Council has elected not to apply for a further rate cap variation for each of the last seven financial years, and last Wednesday continued that streak.

The resolution not to apply for a rate cap variation was moved by Cr Tonia Dudzik, and seconded by Cr Paul Tatchell.

Cr Ward dissented, starting a debate.

“Council staff have done the figures, and they’ve assessed that we don’t need to apply for a rate cap variation in this financial year,” Cr Dudzik said.

“We have a responsibility to our ratepayers to keep our rates low.”

“I’ve done a bit of research, and I want to make it very clear that I don’t want to impose an additional rate increase on the ratepayers of the Moorabool Shire Council,” Cr Ward said.

“I’m voting against the recommendation, to simply bring to the attention the accumulative effect of rate increases below CPI over the past few years, cost shifting by the State Government to LGAs leading to declining cash reserves for councils, council costs increasing faster than CPI, construction costs continuing to rise, and total borrowings increasing right across the local government sector.”

Crs Berry, Dudzik, Edwards, Tatchell, and Munari all voted in favour of not seeking a rate cap variation.

Council to look into Men’s Shed expansion

A Notice of Motion was put forward by Cr Rod Ward at the meeting, regarding the need for increased capacity at the Bacchus Marsh Men’s Shed.

The motion, which was approved unanimously by Council, requests Council’s CEO to prepare a report on options that may be considered for increased or new facilities, to meet growing demand for the Men’s Shed.

“Due to increasing demand for membership of the Bacchus Marsh Men’s Shed, the group’s membership numbers have grown annually. Unfortunately, due to the lack of further space for

growth at their existing location, the group has made the difficult decision to cap their membership numbers at 40 members,” the motion notes.

“It is noted that the current population of Bacchus Marsh/Darley/Maddingley is approximately 27,000, and with the population expected to grow to approx. 40,000 by 2040 there is expected to be an ongoing need for the Bacchus Marsh Men’s Shed to provide for additional membership from this rapidly growing population.”

What’s in a name?

Council has adopted a new Place Naming Policy, to inform the naming of geographic place names within the Shire.

A draft version of the policy was put out for community consultation on 7 September 2023, with the consultation process closing on 5 October.

Among the principles listed in the policy are recognising the public interest, linking the name to place, ensuring names are not duplicated, recognition and use of Traditional Owner languages, and using commemorative names.