Council
21 February, 2024
Corangamite Shire to see a ward restructure
WHEN Corangamite residents vote in the council election in October, they will elect one councilor from each of the seven wards.
The seven wards are named Cooriemungle, Gnotuk, Lake Elingamite, Lake Keilambete, Leura, Mt Elephant and Tandarook.
Local Government Minister Melissa Horne last week announced the old five ward structure would be replaced in line with recommendation of the Victoria Electoral Commission.
The biggest change is the former Central Ward being divided into:
Lake Keilambete Ward, comprising Terang and Noorat;
Gnotuk Ward reaching to the middle of Camperdown; and
Leura Ward from Central Camperdown to the east.
A slightly enlarged North Ward will be known as Mt Elephant Ward.
South-West Ward will remain largely unchanged but will be Lake Elingamite Ward.
Coastal Ward, renamed Cooriemungle, will take a small amount of territory from South Central, which will be called Tandarook.
The recommendations were based on an independent review which considered a range of issues.
Corangamite Shire mayor Kate Makin said the last review of Corangamite Shire was in 2015.
“The old mix of four wards with one councillor each, but three in the more populous Central Ward, is no longer allowed under the new Local Government Act,” she said.
“Council made a submission to the review advocating for a Ward structure rather than an unsubdivided council.
“Because there is so much ground to cover in our big shire, wards mean residents will still have a local representative who understands what is important to them.
“While they can talk to any councillor, there will still be a local face they can easily contact and talk to one-on-one.”
Cr Makin thanked all of the community members who got involved in the review process.
“There was a lot of feedback from the community to council and 14 members of the public made formal submissions alongside the one from council,” she said.
“It’s great to see people taking an active role in how the shire is governed,”.
“The subdivided structure has worked well for the shire in the past and while this is slightly different, particularly with Camperdown, council has always worked together for the good of the wider community.”
Corangamite Shire Council is one of 30 councils which will transition to a single-member ward structure.
The state government is amending the electoral structures of 39 Victorian councils ahead of the 2024 local government general elections in October this year.
Minister for Local Government Melissa Horne announced the upcoming changes last Thursday having accepted the recommendation of the Electoral Representation Advisory Panels (ERAPS) – noting these new electoral representation arrangements will ensure councils are more reflective of the communities they represent.
Initially established under the Local Government Act 2020, the change in legislation has seen extensive work and engagement from ERAPS over the past 15 months to ensure councils become compliant with the new requirements.
The panels’ reviews have been completed with time to allow for candidates and the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) to implement the necessary planning ahead of the general elections.
The structure amendment will see 30 councils change to single-member ward structure, except in those cases where ERAPs have recommended the council have uniform multi-member wards or an unsubdivided structure.
Four councils will change to a multi-member ward structure and a further five councils will change to an unsubdivided structure.
Ms Horne said the ERAPs have delivered “thorough work over an extensive period to ensure that Victorian councils will be set up to effectively represent their communities”.
“These new ward boundaries will be in place for the local government elections this year – an important step in our work to reform local government and meet the expectations of communities right across Victoria,” she said.
The new electoral boundary details are available at localgovernment.vic.gov.au/council-governance/electoral-representation-advisory-panels-eraps.