Campaspe Shire wards under threat

Two information sessions explaining the process will be held before a three-week period is provided for the public to make submissions to the panel.

Prior to the 2020 elections there were 25 councils involved in the electoral structure review.

As a result eight councils moved to single-member wards and two shires moved to the unsubdivided mode: Swan Hill Rural City Council and Mansfield Shire Council.

Fifteen of the councils that were under review by the Victorian Electoral Commission retained their current ward structure.

Campaspe Shire becoming one large unsubdivided area will be among the agenda items, as will the number of councillors.

Kyabram is within the Kyabram Deakin Ward and has three representatives on council — Deputy Mayor Colleen Gates, Echuca-based businessman Daniel Mackrell and Kyabram businessman John Zobec.

There is a constant concern within the Kyabram community that the town runs a distant second to the home base of the shire, Echuca.

Kyabram Deakin Residents Ratepayers and Development Group has consistently voiced its dissatisfaction with the status of Kyabram in the shire.

Chair Mary Bowman said last week an unsubdivided shire could further threaten Kyabram’s place at the Campaspe Shire table.

Apart from the three Kyabram ward councillors there are six other members of council.

Three of those are within the Echuca ward (Mayor Rob Amos, Chrissy Weller and Tony Marwood). Adrian Weston is Waranga’s representative, while Paul Jarman (Rochester) and Leanne Pentreath (Western Ward) make up the council.

If wards remain, the panel will consider how many are appropriate, how many councillors should be in each ward, where the ward boundaries sit and the name of each ward.

The panels were formed by the Victorian Minister for Local Government on a fixed term to carry out the electoral structure reviews.

Not on the agenda are altering existing external boundaries, dividing of councils or the combining of councils.

Six members of two panels have been appointed, chaired by 85-year-old retired Court of Appeal judge Frank Vincent and former Manningham City Council mayor Julie Eisenbise.

The panels also include Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately and Deputy Electoral Commissioner Dana Fleming.

At the end of the process a recommendation will be made to the Minister for Local Government and, if accepted, the changes will apply at the next general council election in October 2024.

There are 39 local councils that will have their electoral structure reviewed, conducted in three rounds within the next 18 months.

A review of Campaspe’s wards will start at the end of the month, one of a dozen councils included in round one of the process.

Campaspe, along with other regional councils at Gannawarra and Strathbogie, will be involved in the process.

An online public information session will be held at noon on Monday, January 30, to start the process, with a second session planned for 6pm on January 31.

On February 1 preliminary submissions will be opened and people will have until 5pm on Wednesday, February 22 to contribute to the conversation.

During that process people will be able to inform the panel of their views in writing and can also draw a map of their preferred electoral structure.

On March 22 a preliminary report will be published and response submissions to that report will be opened. They will close on Wednesday, April 12.

A final report on the process will be presented on Wednesday, May 17.