Hepburn switching to an unsubdivided shire later this year may end up disadvantaging smaller population centres such as Trentham, Lyonville, Bullarto, Glenlyon and Clunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hepburn will continue to have seven councillors, but wards are being scrapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Minister\u2019s design is in sharp contrast to community sentiments \u2013 most who wrote submissions were seeking a model of seven wards with one councillor from each ward,\u201d Cr Hood pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is a fact that 60 per cent of the shire\u2019s population resides in Daylesford and Creswick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile there are many issues of common interest across the shire, there are also clear differences in our five major towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnder the Local Government Act, councillors are already obligated to make decisions in the best interests of the shire community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVoters will face the task of selecting seven candidates from what is expected to be a very large field of candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cr Hood referred to residents having to face a number of practicalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Examples include: Which councillor does a resident turn to for assistance?, and, With no ward boundaries, how do councillors interact with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hepburn is one of five shires that have become unsubdivided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hepburn switching to an unsubdivided shire later this year may end up disadvantaging smaller population centres such as Trentham, Lyonville, Bullarto, Glenlyon and Clunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":18646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1693,437],"ppma_author":[5225],"class_list":["post-18644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-hepburn-shire-council","tag-trentham"],"yoast_head":"\n