Hepburn switching to an unsubdivided shire later this year may end up disadvantaging smaller population centres such as Trentham, Lyonville, Bullarto, Glenlyon and Clunes.
This is the personal opinion of current mayor Brian Hood, who has spoken out about the implications of the recent decision by Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny to impose the unsubdivided model on Hepburn.
Hepburn will continue to have seven councillors, but wards are being scrapped.
“The Minister’s design is in sharp contrast to community sentiments – most who wrote submissions were seeking a model of seven wards with one councillor from each ward,” Cr Hood pointed out.
“It is a fact that 60 per cent of the shire’s population resides in Daylesford and Creswick.
“While there are many issues of common interest across the shire, there are also clear differences in our five major towns.
“Under the Local Government Act, councillors are already obligated to make decisions in the best interests of the shire community.
“Voters will face the task of selecting seven candidates from what is expected to be a very large field of candidates.”
Cr Hood referred to residents having to face a number of practicalities.
Examples include: Which councillor does a resident turn to for assistance?, and, With no ward boundaries, how do councillors interact with each other.
Cr Hood, a Trentham resident, also suggested if a majority of councillors came from the larger population centres, local knowledge in other areas was lost, and there might be implications for equitable resource allocations.
Hepburn is one of five shires that have become unsubdivided.
