Mayor, Cr Janet Cropley

Much of the work Councillors undertake is in briefings, behind closed doors, where we consider presentations from officers on many issues and work through projects currently being undertaken by the Council.  Much of this work is about strategic directions and the steps needed to be taken to get us to a place where we share information with the community.

This work in the last 6 months has included reviewing  the way Council provides grants and sponsorship to community organisations.  Council has decided to make some changes in the interests of transparency and more efficient organisation.

Council will consider all community grants at the same time and bring the process forward in the budget cycle, so that community organisations will know if they have received grants by the end of the calendar year, allowing them to plan better for the following year.

The grants will now also include funds for events, which have previously been managed by delegation to the CEO responding to a request for funds throughout the year. This is a significant change for the organisations which run events, and I want to be sure all are aware of the changes.

Council will make a total of $156,000 available to community organisations under the categories of: Community, Arts and Culture, Events, Land and Waterways and Greenhouse Action.

Grants will be advertised and officers will conduct information sessions in early September and applications will close on 22 October 2010.  Grants will be announced at the 14 December Council Meeting.

I encourage all groups to consider an application to progress the great work undertaken by the community for the community.

Council also has consultants working in the community developing an Environment Strategy to guide Council in the areas of: Climate Change, Greenhouse and Energy, Land and Biodiversity, Urban Development and Planning, Sustainable Transport, Waste and Resource Efficiency and Water.

These are big issues which have an impact on the wellbeing of our community, even though most of them are not primarily the concern of Council, the decisions we make have an impact on the issues.  We believe that Council has a role in advocating to other levels of government and instrumentalities on issues which affect our community.

When Council undertakes consultations with the community it is very difficult to ensure we capture resident opinions broadly across the community.  Some of us are not meeting goers, we can only be interested in some issues even if we have opinions about other issues.  Running consultation meetings becomes costly and people who have a passion about a topic do go to the meetings – so sometimes the outcomes of consultations are biased to the impassioned on whatever issue we consult on.

Part of the consultation includes a survey which is on the Council website and is available in hard copy from the Shire office (5471 1700).  As this is such a big area of interest and concern I would encourage all residents to try to give some feedback by completing the survey.

To find the survey on the website go to the home page and click on ‘Add your voice to the Environment Strategy’.

When the plan is completed and considered by the Council it will be made available to all interested residents, which is likely to be early in 2011.

On Tuesday, 24 August, Mount Alexander Shire Councillors elected Cr Janet Cropley as the Mayor for the remainder of this Mayoral term. She will be the first female Mayor in the Shire since local government amalgamations in the 1990s.

Cr Cropley is the elected representative for the Tarrengower Ward and has been a councillor since December 2008. She brings expertise in local government, community development and a great passion for community service to the role.

“It is an honour to be elected to serve as Mayor by my fellow Councillors,” Cr Cropley said.

“I wish to thank my colleague Cr Philip Schier for the enormous amount of work he has done as Mayor throughout his two terms. I now look forward to the opportunity to work with people from across the Shire to continue to improve the place where we live.”

This Mayoral term will continue until December when Councillors will elect a Mayor for a new 12-month term.

Cr Cropley’s fellow Councillors include Brook Acklom, Tracey Cross, Christine Henderson, Michael Redden, Garry Rewell and Philip Schier.

From Cr Philip Schier

13 August 2010

The formal handing over of the mayoral baton on August 24 draws near, along with the mid-point of this Council’s term later this year. It’s an appropriate time to reflect on where Council is at.

Whenever there is a single major issue dominating the media coverage of Council matters, it can seem to the reading public that it’s the only thing taking up Council’s attention. Readers may, therefore be pleased that pools won’t be the focus of this week’s column and that many other matters have also been the subject of attention lately, without creating headlines.

Council recently adopted a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy which covers a whole range of services which help to enable a happier and healthier community. Many of these are on-going roles for Council, such as the provision of Home and Community Care.

The Strategy, however, also addresses new areas such as a Heatwave Plan, which we’re developing for the first time. This is not because heatwaves are new, but because the evidence has mounted that heatwaves actually exceed bushfires as a risk to the health and safety of vulnerable people. Furthermore, climate predictions indicate that there is a high probability of more frequent and more severe heatwaves like that of January-February 2009, so it’s prudent to plan for these.

On the issue of bushfires, the recent release of the Royal Commission Report throws up some major challenges for local government. These include the management of Neighbourhood Safer Places and roadside vegetation, as well as maintaining lists of vulnerable people and making significant changes to land use planning. If full responsibility for such changes is mandated upon councils, a major resourcing gap will be created and we’ll need to advocate for support to achieve good community outcomes.

The CEO and I have had several opportunities recently to continue advocating for better public transport across the Shire. Whenever there is a chance, whether directly to the State Government or indirectly through a peak body like the Municipal Association of Victoria, we push the case. This includes requesting that train stations at Harcourt, Elphinstone and Taradale be re-opened, ideally with a Sprinter service between Kyneton and Bendigo. In an integrated strategy, trains would link to improved local bus services. There are further links to Council’s own Walking and Cycling Strategy.

Integrated public transport is a medium term goal which we can’t achieve on our own, so it remains a key advocacy issue. Another one in the shorter term is preventing the 27km of the old Calder Highway from being classified as a local road with full liability for it being transferred from VicRoads to Council. We’d incur a depreciation and maintenance liability of $200,000 every year, requiring either cuts to other services or a 2% rate rise for this one section of road. This is an unreasonable cost shift and we’re resisting it.

Making the case for urgently needed new facilities for Castlemaine Secondary College has been another key advocacy issue and it’s been pleasing to see recent State Government support for the next stage of master planning. We’ll keep supporting the school by pushing the issue until there’s a full funding announcement.

Progress continues on a comprehensive Environment Strategy; there are opportunities for you to have input as advertised recently – see Council’s website.

Finally, there is widespread concern over a proposal to expand poker machine numbers in Castlemaine. Many people have asked what Council’s role is. Council has no powers to simply ban [or allow] pokies. Councillors will only have a decision-making role if there is a planning permit application with certain triggers, such as unresolved objections. In this situation the matter would come before Council for determination in its role as the Responsible Authority in planning matters.

Personally, I have deep concerns about the negative sides of gambling and have written recently about a close family member having a devastating pokies addiction. When it comes to consideration of an application, however, councillors are obliged to be open to all parties and consider the application on merit with respect to the relevant planning provisions. Potential social impacts would be included where the provisions address them.

So there will be opportunities for concerned residents to object formally if and when a permit application is lodged and advertised. In the meantime, citizens have a variety of ways to voice their concerns outside of formal processes if they wish to do so.

Cr Philip Schier

Mayor, Mount Alexander Shire

6 August 2010

Last week, Council made the difficult decision to close the Chewton swimming pool. The disappointment felt by many Chewton residents is understandable, and my fellow councillors and I acknowledge that there will be feelings of loss.

I wish to take this opportunity to explain the collective view of Council as expressed through a majority decision. I do this not because I expect it will persuade all readers to agree with Council’s view. Rather, it is so that the reasoning behind the decision is transparent and at least understandable, whether you live in Chewton or elsewhere.

I’ll point out firstly that Council has taken seriously the community feedback on the proposed indoor aquatic facility. There was unanimous support for a motion requesting further investigation of a range of concerns about the proposal. Council doesn’t have a pre-determined outcome and will fully explore unresolved issues before making a decision on an indoor centre.

We accepted the feedback from people in Chewton and Harcourt indicating how much they value their pools, and their request that we separate the decision about the future of their pools from consideration of the proposed indoor aquatic centre.

So we commissioned a detailed, independent assessment of the condition of both pools. The report provided fairly compelling evidence that there was a case for retaining the existing pool in Harcourt. The motion to maintain and operate the Harcourt pool until at least 2015/16 was also supported unanimously.

So I reject the claims that Council is in some way hostile to smaller communities, that the community consultation was a sham, or that it’s a case of ‘Castlemaine against other parts of the shire’. Four out of seven councillors are from wards outside Castlemaine and would never allow this. Furthermore, of Council’s 101 community infrastructure projects in the last three years, 83 have been in places outside of Castlemaine.

The crux of the Chewton pool issue is that a pool can only be provided into the future if the actual pool shell is replaced. Very little external funding is available for refurbishment or rebuilding of outdoor seasonal pools. To illustrate why the numbers are stacked against building new pools in small communities, I offer the following, in round terms. The pool shell plus the necessary upgrades to other facilities would cost approximately $2million. If this were to happen, it should be sooner rather than later, as it is costing tens of thousands each year trying to keep the existing pool functional and safe; this erodes the capital available for an upgrade.

Even if we allow a ten year period to pay this capital cost, this means over $200,000 per year, along with annual operating costs of about $20,000 to $30,000. Let’s assume visitor numbers get back up to the average over the last six years of about 2,200 per year. That equates to over $100 per swim for the next ten years! Even if visits were to double, that’s an unreasonable level of ratepayer subsidy per swim.

Even those Councillors who voted against the resolution to decommission the existing Chewton pool were not saying we should fund a new one. Much as it would be lovely to provide a new swimming pool within walking distance of every household, or even every primary school, in the Shire, we can’t. And that’s the precedent we would be setting for smaller townships.

While every pool requires a level of subsidy – better described as a cost of service provision – there has to be some assessment of value for money. So the Harcourt pool, with an average of 3,300 annual visits and a ten-year projected capital cost of around $1.0 million, still requires a large subsidy but is much more affordable on a cost per visit basis.

The contentious aspect of the decision really came down to a response to requests for the existing pool to be kept open a little longer. Some councillors – particularly those representing the most affected wards, understandably wished to support this aspiration. But the majority view was that this would merely mean postponing a difficult issue as happened three years ago. Remember the professional advice is that the pool should not re-open.

And there are real issues about handing over such a facility into community ownership on a ‘no liability’ basis. Operating public pools carries significant risks. Is Council really free of all legal and moral responsibility if it hands over a pool which has been independently assessed as beyond repair?

30 July 2010

In discussions last week, Council gave support to the idea of announcing a ‘mayor elect’ about a month ahead of the official changeover, subsequently deciding that Cr Janet Cropley would take that role. Congratulations, Janet!

Apart from in the City of Melbourne, the Local Government Act doesn’t allow for mayors to be directly elected by the public, so it is a decision of the seven councillors. The appointment is only for three months to complete the term for which I was appointed. The Act requires that a new mayor be appointed within a month of the last Saturday in November, the anniversary of the fixed date for council (and State Government) elections.

The Act makes no provision for formally electing a mayor ahead of the actual changeover date, so announcing a mayor elect is really an expression of our intention to elect Cr Cropley at the meeting of August 24. At that meeting, the ceremonial process of Council electing the new mayor will take place. Any councillor can still nominate to be considered in that election, though choosing the mayor elect makes it clear in advance who has the support of Council.

Given that there is a general expectation that the mayor’s role – while not a nine-to-five job – requires close to full-time attention, there are good reasons for making the decision a few weeks early. Leaving the decision about the next mayor until the actual date means any prospective candidates with work or family commitments have a difficult choice to make. They can rearrange their lives to be ready to give the mayoral role due time immediately, should they be elected, and not risk leaving a job only to miss out on the mayoralty. Alternatively, they can wait until being elected as mayor before putting the necessary arrangements in place, meaning it takes a few weeks into the mayoralty to really give it the time it needs.

Secondly, a decision a few weeks ahead of time allows the incoming and outgoing mayors to work together on a smooth transition, with the mayor elect attending some of the internal and external meetings which are part of the role. Events and meetings requiring the new mayor’s attendance – which are likely to occur from the day of the changeover – can also be scheduled in the mayor elect’s diary. Overall it will help an incoming mayor to ‘hit the ground running’.

This is an element of good governance, which is one of those things which is hardly noticed when it occurs but suddenly becomes critical when its absence leads to a crisis. To understand what I mean, think only of the names of municipalities (or other levels of government) associated with scandalous malpractice.

One of the things about this council which I’m most proud of is its record of good governance. To an extent, this is dependent on having adequate rules and processes in place. We’ve sought to improve transparency and accountability with innovations like the Annual Plan which I discussed last week, and continuing support for long term financial planning .

But the best systems in the world don’t ensure good governance unless there are well-functioning human relationships taking place. In local government, the electoral system produces representatives of very different ideological and personal values who have to form a working cabinet rather than a model of government and opposition. This can put intense strain on those relationships.

What’s worked on this council has been a shared focus on the issues, with respectful discussion and debate used to resolve differences when they arise. Sometimes this means split decisions on council resolutions; significantly, the divided votes haven’t always followed the same pattern. Importantly, we have been able as a group to leave our differences with the vote and move on to the next issue without personal grievance. This has allowed each matter to be considered on its merits and has frequently resulted in better decisions because an openness to alternative views has produced good compromises.

This is an approach I’ve tried to emphasise as mayor and I wish to thank my colleagues for their commitment to supporting it. Even when we haven’t been able to please everyone in the shire on every issue, I believe the community can have assurance that the process has been open and reasonable, with a fair hearing given to all parties. I’m confident that this will continue under Janet Cropley’s leadership.

23 July 2010

Last week, Council adopted an Annual Plan for this financial year, listing key tasks and timeframes for starting and completing each one. This is an innovation of this Council and was implemented for the first time last year. As well as taking the general aspirations of the four-year Council Plan and turning them into quarter-by-quarter actions, it requires progress reports on these as part of the quarterly reports to Council.

As well as ensuring that the CEO and organisation are very accountable to Council, the Annual Plan makes Council more transparent and accountable to the community. Essentially, we’re saying, “This is what you can expect us to deliver and when we’ll deliver it.” If we’re not able to deliver a given action on time and on budget, we need to explain why not.  We’re also being pragmatic in seeking to do specific things and do them properly, rather than promising to do everything imaginable in a given year.

Some of the actions are regular operations running throughout the year, and simply state the amount allocated to them in this year’s Budget. Including these shows how significant the expenditure is in such areas as road maintenance and landfill management. Others, such as bridge renewals are also there every year, but it’s worth noting that a single structure – in this case the bridge over the Loddon at Vaughan – takes up more than a whole year’s bridge budget and is being funded over two years.

New initiatives which might be of particular interest include extra money for walking and cycling paths to start implementing the recently adopted Strategy in that area and a considerable range of works on recreation facilities and community buildings. We’ll also be completing the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens refurbishment, the fit-out of the School of Mines building and an overarching Environment Strategy.

Some actions are funded out of general operational revenue – mostly those involving officer time rather than capital investment or materials. This year, these include reviewing the Greenhouse Action Plan to take it beyond 2010, and several priority areas of Council advocacy with other levels of government, such as integrated public transport and improved access to community services. We’re also reviewing some inconsistent ad hoc funding of small community groups and expanding the successful community grants scheme.

Overall, I think the Annual Plan is a good indication that Council is delivering many really positive community and environment outcomes, while still delivering on infrastructure renewal and basic services.

To finance the Annual Plan, Council has also adopted the Budget for 2010/11, including measures to reduce the impact of rate rises on the farming community. I discussed proposed changes to the Draft Budget in this column two weeks ago; these changes were incorporated into the final adopted Budget.

As a result, Council has maintained the overall 8.5% rise in revenue from rates, but for properties in the $200,000 to $300,000 range the rise will be 4-6%. This is because the $51 reduction in the Municipal Charge – the flat charge for every property, regardless of value – has a greater proportional benefit for lower-valued properties. Higher-valued properties will attract a greater rate increase; this is one way of sharing the rate burden more fairly.

Farms at the higher-value end will have an above-average rise, but not nearly as much as if the Draft Budget’s proposals of a higher Farm Rate and a much bigger cut to the Municipal Charge had been adopted.

Overall, I believe this to be a good compromise. It allows Council to continue to improve infrastructure and services, while sharing the cost of this fairly and responsibly. It’s the best we can do while still so dependent on property taxes. Ultimately a fairer method – one the whole sector is pushing for as a longer term goal – is for local government to be allocated a specific share of Commonwealth revenues which are more directly based on people’s capacity to pay.

16 July 2010

It’s time for another update about Council’s progress on the provision of aquatic facilities.

Last week, Council released the detailed technical assessments of the Chewton and Harcourt outdoor pools, as well as the results of the community feedback process. Several councillors and officers also attended recent meetings with locals at Harcourt and Chewton, at which questions could be asked of the independent consultant who provided the technical assessments. This enabled people wishing to keep those pools open to get detailed information about the current condition of the pools and what it would take to keep them viable for the longer term.

Members of the communities of Harcourt and Chewton have asked Council to separate the issue of their much-loved local summer pools from the consideration of an indoor aquatic centre. Council is attempting to do that as far as possible, while being mindful that we can’t promise everything to everybody. We’re also seeking to be transparent in sharing the information we’re gathering in making sound decisions.

The technical pool assessments tell a different story for each of the two pools. The Harcourt pool shell has some significant cracks, but not of the worst-case nature feared following earlier visual inspections. This was described as a possible ‘broken back’ which can happen if changing water pressure in the surrounding earth causes the pool to rise and then subside unevenly. Fortunately, this has not occurred. The concrete is in relatively good condition and is well reinforced.

To keep Harcourt pool going would not require replacement of the pool shell itself in the near future. Nevertheless, some significant expenditure on repairing cracks and upgrading facilities would be necessary over the coming years. Costs for a 5 to 15-year upgrade are estimated at $880,000 to $1,080,000.

In Chewton, unfortunately, the pool shell itself has reached the end of its functional life. This is, perhaps, to be expected given that it is 60 years old. Core samples and imaging which can penetrate the concrete show that both the concrete and the steel reinforcing are rapidly deteriorating and have reached the point where annual maintenance can no longer sustain the structure.  There is insufficient integrity in the concrete to make a vinyl liner a viable option. Essentially, a new concrete or stainless steel pool shell is required. Along with necessary upgrades to the concourse, filtration equipment and change facilities, this would cost $1.8 to $2.3million.

Council has requested more detailed information on the Castlemaine outdoor pool and is still awaiting this. We’ve also requested further detail on the indoor aquatic centre option, including energy use and greenhouse emissions.

Regardless of questions around an indoor centre, it’s clear that outdoor summer pools are also capital-intensive and this needs to be evaluated on a cost-benefit basis. Harcourt has requested to be considered as a separate township more like Newstead or Maldon. It’s fair to say that its case is helped by an assessment showing its pool shell, like theirs, has some considerable life left in it.

Chewton is similarly asking that it be considered as a separate village from Castlemaine, deserving of its own pool facility. People there have an understandable desire for Council to replace a pool which has served them well for generations. Among Council’s considerations, given that the construction of a new pool is required, is whether it would be equitable to do this if we can’t also afford new pools for Taradale, Elphinstone, Guildford or other smaller communities across the Shire.

I also wish to correct some inaccuracies included in the ‘Save Chewton Pool’ media campaign . One of these is claiming that outdoor pools are a cheaper option. After government grants, the cost to ratepayers of the proposed indoor centre is $10million – a lot of money, but not the $16million implied. If new pools were built for every community the size of Chewton, the cost would be considerably more than $10million. It has also been falsely suggested that the Castlemaine skate park is under threat in the Western Reserve proposal. It’s not.

Outdoor pools are actually a more costly option in terms of ratepayer subsidy per swim compared with an indoor, year-round centre as proposed. All pools require considerable ratepayer subsidy – or cost of provision – like other Council-provided facilities and services. They all provide great community benefits, too, but vary in their types of benefit and costs.

In the complex task of evaluating the relative costs and benefits of several scenarios, the options are becoming clearer and Council will make some key decisions in the coming weeks.

9 July 2010

Back in May, as is usual every year, Council released its Draft Budget for the coming financial year. We also launched the usual statutory process allowing citizens to lodge a formal submission and request to be heard at a formal Council meeting if they so wished.

In recent years, we have scheduled a Special Meeting for this, only to find that barely a handful of submitters came to address Council and the meeting lasted less than half an hour. So this year we included the hearing process in the agenda for our regular meeting on June 22. As events transpired, the agenda that evening also included the permit application for the Community Bank in Maldon, with a good number in the gallery to address Council on that matter.

So when nearly fifty submitters registered to address Council regarding the Budget, the meeting was shifted to the Town Hall and became the longest Council meeting in recent years.

Almost without exception, those who had come to speak about the Draft Budget were farmers concerned about how it would impact on their businesses. They spoke passionately yet politely and many of them were quite eloquent in making their case. Although it was a cold evening, I was heartened by the powerful example of a group of people exercising their democratic rights and putting a human face on a process involving lots of figures and principles.

Many of the issues affecting farm viability, such as drought and global commodity prices, are obviously well outside Council’s control. The point being made to us, however, was that the cumulative effect of a lot of factors outside farmers’ control meant that they have very limited capacity to absorb a significant rise in council rates.

Their key point was that the proposed general rate rise, in combination with changes to the farm rate and municipal charge, added up to an unfair burden on farmers. Council undertook to have a serious look at their case and arranged a special briefing session last week to crunch the numbers under various scenarios, prior to resolving on the Budget on July 13.

As I mentioned in this column a few weeks back, one of the key changes proposed was to reduce the municipal charge by about half, because a flat charge like this disadvantages owners of lower-valued properties who – by and large – are mostly on lower incomes. The resulting deficit in revenue gets picked up in the main rate in the dollar value of each property, whereby more expensive properties pay higher rates.

The farmers’ point was that they largely accepted the social equity principle behind this change where it applied to house values, but that it was harsh on farms whose value is mostly in productive land rather than flash houses. So a genuine primary producer might have a property worth 1, 2 or 3 million dollars but only an average or below-average family income, whereas the owner of a house or business in town of similar value probably earns much more.

Added to that, the Rating Strategy’s recommendation proposed an extra 10% on the farm rate. This was mostly on the basis of the significant expenditure on rural roads and bridges, so there was a rational argument for this change. The equally rational response, however, was that farms would be picking this up, and perhaps more, through the increases resulting from the reduction in the municipal charge.

The outcome of the briefing discussion is that next week, Council will be considering an alternative which keeps the farm rate at the same level as the general rate, and reduces the municipal charge to $150 rather than $100. This would mean a much reduced impact on farms in particular, and other high-valued properties to an extent, while still delivering some benefit to low-valued properties. Nothing is certain until the Budget is adopted, but Councillors have certainly expressed an openness to the idea.

The overall proposed rate rise is less likely to change, and it should be noted that the Municipal Association of Victoria’s recent survey of draft budgets for 2010-11 puts our average total per assessment (the best indicator of overall comparative rates) at 43rd of 68 reported councils – well below the median.

2 July 2010

Readers will probably be aware by now that I have given notice of my intention to step down as Mayor at the end of August, three months before my term was due to expire. I know that ‘due to family reasons’ is sometimes a smokescreen for other issues when a politician resigns; in my case, it really is about my need to give more time and emotional energy to my family.

Being the Mayor is a huge privilege and a wonderful opportunity to engage with people from the whole spectrum of the Shire community. It’s also a very demanding role which places a huge burden on partners and families. This is not so much due to the total time commitment, although to do justice to the role is at least equal to a full time equivalent. It’s more because the hours when the Mayor is required so often fall on evenings and weekends and there are phone calls and media enquiries at odd hours including early mornings. In addition, it’s harder to ‘switch off’ mentally and emotionally than is the case with many other jobs, in order to be fully present and available for family.

I had already made a commitment that I wouldn’t seek a further term as Mayor at the end of this year, but a couple of factors have combined to bring this date forward.

Firstly, some family matters have made it harder for me to justify the time I’m not at home at evenings and weekends. This includes dealing with a medical condition our twin sons have. It’s not life threatening, but it does require some extra care and attention.

Secondly, in order to provide for my family beyond this mayoral term, I have decided to make a career transition which requires undertaking some further study. To this end, I have applied for mid-year entry into the Masters in Community Planning and Development at La Trobe University Bendigo. This will allow me to build on my Council experience in strategic planning with a view to great outcomes for communities and the environment. It will obviously also help me make more informed decisions in my on-going role on Council.

It might have been possible to undertake full-time study and still see out my mayoral term until the end of November. However, I don’t feel I would have been able to do justice to the role and give it the time and dedication which the community rightly expects. I thought it better to hand over earlier to someone fresh and fully available to tackle the task.

Two months’ notice allows time for other councillors to consider their willingness and availability to nominate for Mayor. I’ve recommended to the CEO that we consider adopting a practice used in the City of Greater Bendigo and elsewhere, of voting for a Mayor-Elect a few weeks ahead of the official election. This will facilitate a smoother handover, as well as avoiding the rather odd situation of candidates not knowing until the actual day whether or not they have this demanding role. That uncertainty makes it harder for people with work and family commitments to consider nominating.

Staying on as Mayor for two more months will also enable me to maintain the responsibility of leading Council through the rest of the 2010-11 Budget process and – I hope – resolving some of the issues around swimming pools. I feel a level of personal accountability for working through the concerns raised by farmers about proposed rating changes, and by Harcourt and Chewton residents about the possibility of their swimming pools being closed.

It will be appropriate to acknowledge other people when my term ends in a couple of months. For now, there’s still a job to do.

25 June 2010

The destructive rampage at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens last week is very saddening to the whole community. The Gardens are much loved by everyone in the Shire and have been for generations. They are of national significance as a fine example of C19 gardens and have mature examples of rare specimens from around the globe.

It was in acknowledgment of this, and out of a desire to enhance the enjoyment of the Gardens for current and future generations, that Council chose this project to put forward for funding under the federal government’s economic stimulus package. So it’s hard to believe that anyone would target this special place for such an act. It feels like a hostile gesture to the whole community.

Many people are angry at hearing that the destruction was allegedly planned ahead of time and not just a spontaneous act of drunken stupidity – not that even this would make it acceptable. However, given that charges have been laid, we must allow the justice system to handle that side of the community’s response.

In the meantime, work will continue on the overall restoration project as well as repairing the damage.

On another matter, several councillors attended the rally on Saturday that had been organised by those wanting to save the Harcourt and Chewton pools. It’s timely to give an update on the process Council is working through in making decisions about the long term provision of aquatic facilities in Mount Alexander Shire.

At the rally, as well as through the official feedback to Council and less formal channels such as letters to the editor and individual conversations with councillors, a range of concerns has been raised about the proposal for an indoor aquatic centre. Some people are opposed to such a facility altogether, others have concerns about the financial costs (both capital and ongoing), the energy use and consequent greenhouse gas emissions, or the choice of site, particularly the loss of open space at Western Reserve.

So some are opposed and some are yet to be convinced or want clarification about whether other options have been fully explored. Many others clearly want an indoor centre as proposed, including those who think it should be even bigger and incorporate a 50 metre pool.

The greatest passion, however, is held by those who don’t want to lose their local outdoor seasonal pools, especially in Harcourt and Chewton. Council has heard this message loud and clear. Indeed, one of our concerns on receiving the feasibility study was about the social impact of closing three outdoor pools. In putting the study’s recommendations out for public feedback, a key question we wanted answered was essentially, “Would you value an indoor centre sufficiently that you’d accept the closure of these three pools if we can’t afford to keep all of them?”

One of the main requests of the ‘Save the Pool’ groups is for Council to separate the decisions about outdoor pools from the decision about an indoor aquatic centre. We’re attempting to do this and understand that they don’t provide like-for-like services. On the other hand, the decisions can’t be totally separate, given the limitations of financial resources. We have to consider our capacity to deliver on a whole range of improvements to sport and recreation infrastructure across the Shire.

One of the reasons for the process being on hold for about six weeks after the feedback process is that Council has been waiting for a detailed professional assessment of the condition of our outdoor pools. We wanted to know whether further investigations supported the initial estimate of $6-8million to keep them operational for the longer term, which was based on visual inspections. We’re arranging for on-site meetings between concerned community members and the consultant, so that people can satisfy themselves about the assessment process and results.

Other information will be made public next week, including the results of the feedback process. Clearly, Council has not resolved on the matter in June as suggested a couple of months ago. We’re still working through the diversity of feedback received, gathering further information and exploring how far we can go in meeting different aspirations within the community. It’s a major decision – or series of decisions – and Council is not rushing to a hasty resolution.

18 June 2010
This month, two opportunities to strengthen Council’s relationships with other levels of government have fallen only a week apart.

Last Friday the CEO and I attended a State Cabinet session in Bendigo, along with the Mayors and CEOs of Loddon Shire and the City of Greater Bendigo.

Local Government is essentially a creation of the State of Victoria: the Local Government Act is one of State legislation. In many ways we’re at the whim of the government of the day when it comes to regulation, land use planning decisions and funding for community infrastructure and services. We’d prefer a more independent status and work is continuing on this front at a national level (see below). In the meantime, however, it is of critical importance to maintaining cordial relations while upholding the dignity of Local Government.

Each of the three Councils was invited to present a few key issues facing it, and ways in which the State Government could assist. The main issues we raised focussed on the major responsibilities of State Government: transport, education, health and social services.

We pointed out the benefit of more integrated transport planning for Mount Alexander Shire and the broader region. To build on the improved Bendigo train line, a more frequent shuttle between Kyneton and Bendigo would improve service considerably. If combined with re-opening Harcourt, Elphinstone and Taradale stations and a better community bus service linking townships across the Shire, we could have a much more integrated system of public transport. This would be further enhanced by funding support to more rapidly implement Council’s Walking and Cycling Strategy.

We acknowledged recent investment in primary schools, but stressed the need for a significant upgrade to Castlemaine Secondary College. The school’s own master planning is well underway and the regional administration is aware of the need, but Council will take every opportunity to make sure our sole state secondary school is a priority in the Education Minister’s statewide view.

Similarly, Castlemaine District Community Health (CHIRP), requires funding for a needs assessment and feasibility study for new facilities. With the new emphasis on primary health provision at the federal level, the three-way partnership means negotiating a changing landscape.

We urged a more rational, co-ordinated approach to youth services. The State spends about $1million on youth services annually in our shire, but this is spread over at least 14 agencies. It’s a case of not asking for more money, but for smarter spending of it.

Council has flagged its intention to embark on Local Area Plans to complement the Shire-wide MAP2020 Community Plan; we requested co-funding for this.

Finally, we noted that State caps on funding for pools and other recreation infrastructure haven’t changed much in recent years despite a significant escalation in cost for Councils to provide such facilities.

This week I will visit Canberra to attend the Australian Council of Local Government, which is a forum for direct exchange between the Federal Government and local Councils. It’s a little different from just three Councils having the ear of State Cabinet for 45 minutes, as over 500 Local Government representatives participate. In this case, the power lies in collective strength.

The Australian Local Government Association is continuing its push for better constitutional recognition, as well as a fairer and more predictable share of national revenues. I don’t intend wading into the mining ‘super profits’ tax debate here, but it’s clear that federal taxes on profits and personal incomes, and the GST, are ‘growth’ taxes more closely tied to a capacity to pay. An equitable share of such revenues would make local Government less dependent on rates which – as I’ve noted in this column in recent weeks – are a property tax that is harder to make really fair all round when some people are asset rich but income poor.

Council is very choosy about funding interstate travel, and rightly so. But, in my view, it’s worth an annual pilgrimage to Canberra to support this lobbying, as well as shoring up support for existing programs such as Roads to Recovery funding, Federal Assistance Grants and one-off packages such as the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens refurbishment. In total, these made up more than 30% of our Shire’s Budget in 2009/10, or about $9million.

11 June 2010

2010/11 Draft Budget Part 3

What’s the fairest way to share the burden of paying for Council services and infrastructure? Ever wondered why your individual rate bill hasn’t risen by the actual margin of a general rate rise?

Council doesn’t apply a strict user-pays methodology, or there would be a toll on every road and bridge and public garden, and full cost-recovery charges for ovals, pools, libraries and services like home and community care or maternal & child health. Many of these would be priced way out of range for lower-income people or, say, the small numbers in outlying communities who rely on a particular road or bridge. And how can a ‘user-pays’ method be applied to maintaining communal infrastructure like drains?

Where there is a fairly clear relationship between a cost and a particular service, set charges usually apply. Examples are planning and building permits or developer contributions, which get passed to the buyers of new properties who benefit from the new infrastructure in a particular area.

For infrastructure and services which are of broad benefit to the whole community, Councils attract some revenue from various federal and state grants. The rest comes from rates, which are a form of property tax. There’s a generally accepted principle that taxation should be ‘progressive’ in that those with a greater capacity to pay are charged more than those less well-off. This principle can be in tension with the notion of ‘user pays’.

Councils don’t have the power to charge rates according to people’s income levels (like income tax) or spending levels (like the GST or levies on various transactions). In trying to share the burden of rates as fairly as possible, Councils must therefore rely on differentiating between categories of property (residential, commercial, farming, etc) and the relative value of each property based on capital improved value, or CIV.

One of the issues Council has looked at this year through a Rating Strategy is the level of equity in differential rating levels. One significant proposed change pertains to the Municipal Charge, which is a flat charge for every rateable property, regardless of its value. In taxation terms, the Municipal Charge is ‘regressive’ in that lower-valued properties are charged a higher proportional rate than higher-valued properties.

Council intends to cut the Municipal Charge from just over $200 in 2009-10 to $100 in 20010-11, and halve it again to $50 the following year. The lost revenue will be recovered in the cents-in-the-dollar rate applied to each property’s CIV. What this means in actual dollar terms is that lower-valued properties will pay less than the 8.5% general rate rise, and higher-valued properties more. We also plan to cut rates on community recreation facilities located on private land to zero.

Using the CIV is not a perfect tool in assessing the capacity of each property owner to pay, in that higher-valued properties aren’t always owned by higher-income earners. For example, a retiree on a fixed income with a heritage home rising in value faster than other houses can be disadvantaged. However, it’s the only tool we have in adding a progressive dimension to the charging of rates. We rely on state pensioner rebates and hardship provisions to balance some of the resulting inequities.

Every two years, Councils must re-value all properties to allow for changes in CIV due to market trends. This year is a revaluation year so, for example, your rates won’t rise as much if your property is in an area or category for which values haven’t risen as much as the shire average.

In differentiating between the various categories of property, there is some capacity to apply the ‘user pays’ principle, if it can be established that some categories of property draw on council infrastructure and services more than others. The Rating Strategy therefore proposes some objectively based changes to the relative rates, some to be implemented in this Draft Budget and others incrementally over a number of years.

All this means that very few people’s rates will rise by exactly the 8.5% which is the total extra increase in Council’s rate income. A few may actually get a decrease compared with last year, many will get a small rate rise and others will pay more than the average increase – especially those with high-valued properties in more rapidly rising market segments and locations.

As a result, Council will be more popular in some quarters than others, but it’s all part of trying to be as fair as possible in providing infrastructure and services for the common good.

Copies of the Draft Budget are available via Council’s website www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au or on CD over the counter at Town Hall or Halford St. Hard copies can be viewed at various service centres around the Shire. The process for formal submissions closes on June 15 at 5pm.

4 June 2010

2010/11 Draft Budget Part 2

Why can’t rate rises be limited to CPI increases? In part, because we need to renew long-neglected older infrastructure, as discussed last week. Secondly, the cost of Council-provided services and infrastructure is rising annually at above CPI levels, which are based on a typical sample of household expenses. The Index of Local Government Costs, which is heavily dependent on labour and specific materials, has consistently risen by 4-5% annually. Therefore any catching up on a backlog, or any provision for new services or infrastructure, has to involve increases in rates of more than this amount.

A third reason for the extended period of substantial rate rises is that seven years ago, Mount Alexander Shire was near the bottom end of the group of small rural councils in terms of rates charged per assessment. We had very low rates. This looked positive for ratepayers, but Council was heading for ‘financial basket case’ status. It simply meant our infrastructure was deteriorating faster than most. Some municipalities which have kept rates at artificially low levels are in deep trouble now. Our average rates are now around average – not excessively high – when compared with like shires.

It’s simplistic to contrast our proposed 8.5% rate rise with the 4.9% flagged for Macedon Ranges. They can afford a lower rise, because they were already charging considerably more! An average of over $200 more per assessment in 2009/10. Their Melbourne-fringe growth areas also provide additional increases in revenue.

Compared with 2002/03, Mount Alexander is now in a much stronger position to plan for the future. We’re not flush with funds, but we can start prioritising where new spending will occur while continuing to close the infrastructure renewal gap.

The overall policy is to keep directing the majority of increased revenue to capital works rather than expanded services. Secondly, this new capital expenditure is being directed towards sport & recreation facilities, community buildings and the network of paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

The program of bridge renewals will continue so that load-limited bridges are brought up to standard over time. The bridge over the Loddon River in Vaughan is the top of the list. It is vital to a small community and needs replacement but this will cost about $750,000, spread over two years.  And it’s only one of 220 bridges on Council’s books! Fortunately, most bridges aren’t quite as expensive and more than one can be replaced in most years.

We’re not planning a major program of sealing unsealed roads; the goal is to maintain the current network to an increasingly high standard by intervening at earlier stages before deterioration gets too far. Even so, this costs almost $2million per year. Council now has a Roads Asset Management Plan which uses objective criteria for allocating expenditure on both sealed and unsealed roads.

There is a different story with the path network. In recent years, footpaths are one area where Council has funded new infrastructure as well as renewing existing paths. The recent adoption of the Walking and Cycling Strategy provides a rationale and framework for continuing this process and developing a more integrated network of paths – for cycling as well as walking – over the coming decade. Proposals for the coming year include extending the Campbells Creek trail into Castlemaine and doing the scoping work to enable further projects in the years to follow.

Next week: Part 3 – Sharing the load fairly

ier, Mayor, Mt Alexander Shire

28 May 2010
Council’s Draft Budget for 2010-11 is currently on exhibition and open for submissions from the public. There is always a large volume of detail behind budget headlines. My intention here is not to cover all that detail but to explain the key principles used in framing the Draft Budget. Over the next two weeks, I’ll discuss some other issues such as how to most fairly share the rate burden.

Many readers will be aware of Council’s Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP), first adopted in 2003 and updated regularly since then. It’s been a key strategy in shaping successive budgets in a way which addresses long term needs rather than responding in an ad hoc way to short term interests. This year’s proposed Budget continues this discipline.

In 2002, it was identified that the greatest threat to Council’s long term viability was the ever-widening gulf between the rate at which assets were deteriorating and the amount spent annually on fixing them up: the infamous Infrastructure Renewal Gap. Small rural shires are particularly vulnerable to this and Mount Alexander’s legacy of bridges and buildings dating back to the 19th Century made us more exposed than most.

Substantial rate rises such as those of recent years are never popular, but the vast majority of this increased revenue has been directed at infrastructure renewal. Over time, this has enabled us to close this gap by catching up on the renewals backlog and start building some capacity for new initiatives.

To illustrate the point with some figures: in 2003/04 the first budget after the LTFP was adopted, the total capital budget for bridges, roads, drainage and foot & cycle paths was $857,000. In the Draft Budget for 2010/11, the budget for these areas is $2.8million, excluding any carryover works from this year. Furthermore, prior to 2003/04 there was almost no capital budget for sport and recreation facilities and community buildings; these total $1.5million in 2010/11.

Some major projects haven’t been included in the above figures as they involve carrying funds or loan provisions over from this financial year, mostly due to delays in approvals or design processes. These include the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens, the School of Mines refurbishment, the next landfill cell, the access road for the Wesley Hill Industrial Estate and an electronic document management system.

In broad terms, we are now moving into a period where we’re not just maintaining what we’ve got, but starting to invest in new infrastructure to meet community needs. To refer to a comparison with home budget planning which I’ve used before, we’re finally going beyond fixing the leaky roof and the rotting floor stumps and able to consider upgrades like a new kitchen, bathroom or extension. The question has shifted from “how do we stop the house falling apart?” to, “Which new project is the highest priority?”

In council terms, the current cost/benefit debate about aquatic facilities and other recreation needs is a case in point. We’re still not able to do everything given the competing priorities but we are at least in a position to be weighing them up.

Regarding the various general priorities, the overall policy is to keep directing the majority of increased revenue to capital works. Operating expenditure on community services is directed towards maintaining present service levels, rather than either expansion or service cuts. Secondly, the new capital expenditure is being directed towards community buildings, sport & recreation facilities and the network of paths for pedestrians and cyclists. Roads are to be maintained to an increasingly high standard with a major program of sealing unsealed roads. A program of bridge renewals will continue so that load-limited bridges are brought up to standard over time.

I sometimes refer to this as part of Council’s contract with the community – of trying to be clear about Council’s overall direction and intentions, and being accountable for delivering on these. In the case of the draft Budget, this means saying, “Yes, we propose another substantial rate rise, but we’re delivering back to you with better facilities in several priority areas.” There has been an extended period during which rates have gone up by more than the 4-5% annual increase required to tread water financially (based on the MAV’s index of costs to local government). But the keeping of faith on both sides over time means we’re in a relatively strong position to plan for the future.

Part of that ‘contract’ is that the following budget year (2011-12) is the last for which a rate rise above 7% is projected. Beyond this, Council can stay in good financial shape with rises tapering down through 6.5% to the 5% range. This includes some capacity to cope with the unexpected bumps in costs which occur from time to time, so the community has every right to expect Council to keep faith with these projections, barring truly exceptional circumstances. Debates over spending priorities will continue, but at least the parameters are clear.

Copies of the Draft Budget are available via Council’s website www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au or on CD over the counter at Town Hall or Halford St. Hard copies can be viewed at various service centres around the Shire. The process for formal submissions closes on June 15 at 5pm.

21 May 2010
A little over twenty years ago, a member of my family became a widow in her late fifties when her husband died suddenly at 60, only a few months after retirement. Joyce is nearing 80 now, still living with the legacy of being unexpectedly bereft of a life partner who had been a widely respected school principal, a dedicated member of his church and a devoted family man – one of those “pillar of the community” types.

Joyce didn’t cope particularly well. While stoical on the outside, the prospect of maybe 40 years ahead of her on her own – her own mother had lived until 96 after being widowed at a similarly early age – seemed to fill her with dread.

There was significant irony in Joyce’s mode of self-destruction. She might have turned to the brandy or the pills, but instead became one of thousands over the last couple of decades whose choice of self-treatment for emotional pain and grief has been a gambling habit. The irony lies in her choice being the most pointless, joyless waste of hundreds of thousands of dollars imaginable, almost as a gesture of unspoken rebellion against a lifetime of financial frugality.

She’d grown up in the Wimmera during the Depression and wartime, and there was never much excess money in her adult life with a family of seven on a single income. It had to be admitted that her husband had been pretty tight with the purse strings, subscribing to a strong protestant work ethic and a puritanical avoidance of excess or flashiness. And deep down she was angry with him for leaving her alone way too early.

It took a few years for the family to slowly become aware that a couple of Joyce’s pokies trips to the clubs across the Murray with friends had sown the seeds of an entrenched pokies habit. Once the Victorian government opened the doors to suburban pokies venues in Melbourne, Joyce became one of those sad, lonely figures in dimly-lit back rooms of pubs and clubs, slowly losing a lifetime of savings in increments of ten or twenty cents.

Over time, Joyce lost the investment property in which she’d invested most of her husband’s diminished superannuation payout after the stockmarket crash of 1987. She also lost the family holiday home, her car, and significant amounts she had borrowed from family members and was never able to repay. She has barely escaped losing her own home and now scrapes by on the pension.

More than this, she has lost her self-respect and most of her meaningful relationships. She rarely seeks contact with other people. Those who love her have been unable to get through her emotional defences and denials – the strong walls which imprison her as much as they keep others out.

I tell Joyce’s story here because it’s not just her story, or my family’s story. It’s a dishearteningly common story, played out in every country town and every suburb where, aided by a state itself addicted to the funds which flow, poker machines have preyed upon the emotionally vulnerable.

As a community, we’ve paid a high price in lost productivity, wasted resources, emotional heartache and, above all, broken relationships. And we have new and even more hidden outlets for gambling addictions through a proliferation of on-line betting on racing, sport and all sorts of bizarre life possibilities.

Like alcohol, gambling gambling has a fun, social side darkly mirrored by an addictive, antisocial potential. The message in Joyce’s story is not an appeal to eradicate a punt on the dogs, a wager on the Bulldogs or even a bit of fun at the pokies (though personally I find it hard to see their fun side).

My message, rather, is about keeping an eye on yourself, your friends and loved ones at vulnerable times in life when the fun can slip towards a loss of control, with no fun at all. It’s so much easier to cut the habit early on when it’s just starting, than to break an addiction after it’s taken full hold.

This is Responsible Gambling Awareness Week, ‘a unique partnership between industry, local government, the community sector and the Victorian Government’. The week aims to increase awareness among all Victorians to take a balanced approach to their gambling and to stay in control.

14 May 2010

With significant interest in the application for a new building for the Maldon & District Community Bank, I thought it timely to cover the issue of contentious planning matters and Council’s processes for resolving them. It’s a key function of Local Government and one which often generates heated debate.

Some states allow only those immediately affected, such as adjacent property owners, to lodge objections to most planning applications. In Victoria, third parties – essentially meaning any member of the community – can lodge an objection. This is very democratic, as many people who might be affected in a more general way can participate in the process. On the other hand, it can be more protracted and complex.

Some councils delegate officers to make decisions on planning applications when the number of objections is limited to a defined maximum. Others have Planning Committees made up of a small but powerful sub-group of councillors. Our Council requires any application with one or more objections to be referred to an Ordinary Meeting, so all councillors can be involved. We also allow both objectors and applicants to address Council as part of our consideration of the application. It’s about as open and transparent a process as can be found anywhere.

An official Council meeting is a rather formal and pressurised process, with time limits on speakers and a decision required at the meeting. There is not much opportunity for constructive dialogue between the parties, who are really there to put final views to Council in helping us to make a decision. So when there is potential for face-to-face dialogue to resolve some of the issues prior to a Council meeting, an Applicant/Objector Meeting is arranged.

Sometimes these meetings are literally ‘around the table’ with a handful of objectors and the applicant present, along with a ward councillor and one or two officers from the planning section. No binding decisions are made, but there is the opportunity for an applicant to revise plans in response to the views of the objectors, and/or for the objections to be withdrawn following the meeting if concerns have been adequately addressed. If all objections are formally withdrawn, officers under delegation can issue a Notice of Intention to Grant a Permit. If any objections remain in place, or if the officers’ recommendation is to refuse the application, it will proceed to an Ordinary Meeting of Council to be resolved.

On Monday night, Council conducted a larger Applicant/Objector Meeting regarding the proposed new bank building in Maldon. In this case, with over 40 objections and a substantial petition lodged, the level of interest was high and a professional mediator was appointed.

The objectors’ written concerns were summarised and discussed, along with some other issues raised on the evening. I won’t go into detail here, but it was clear that the core concerns pertained to the appropriate form, size and materials of new buildings in the much-valued heritage streetscape of central Maldon. There are written guidelines, but some elements of these require interpretation. For example, to what extent does ‘complementary’ to the streetscape mean using the same materials as existing buildings, and what is modern but ‘sympathetic’ to the surroundings?

These matters are set to come to Council in June for resolution, given the improbability of all of the objections being withdrawn. Naturally, Council will give due heed to expert advice from planning officers and heritage advisors, as well as the applicant and objectors.

There is an important final principle to note. In the landmark (but amusingly named) ‘Winky Pop’ case of 2007, the Supreme Court overturned a decision by Hobson’s Bay Council by ruling that a councillor had exhibited a pre-apprehension of bias. The consequence is that for any councillor to demonstrate a closed mind on a planning matter prior to considering it at a Council Meeting can render a decision invalid. In statutory planning matters Council has a quasi-judicial role akin to a magistrate. We need to be open to the ‘evidence’ – or input from the gallery and the debate in the chamber – until casting a vote.

On other matters, such as broader policies and strategic planning issues, councillors may have a little more freedom to be definitive in their views prior to a meeting. But don’t expect a councillor to give you a clear-cut, “I will (or won’t) be supporting that application!” ahead of time, unless you want a ratepayer-funded court case to ensue!

7 May 2010

Last week, Council resolved to purchase the School of Mines building in Lyttleton St Castlemaine, across the lane from Town Hall. It was a split decision so it is appropriate to clarify the reasons it received majority support.

It’s about three-and-a-half years since Council resolved “in principle” to accept an offer from the State Government to purchase the building, thus returning it to local government after it was sold by the post-amalgamation Commissioners in the mid-1990s. It took an extraordinary amount of time to receive a definite letter of offer from the State Government but that process has now concluded with the recent offer to purchase at a price of $650,000.

Council conducted due diligence on the building in 2006, with expert architectural advice confirming that it was in sound structural condition, that considerable work had been done in bringing it up to date and that more than sufficient space was available for offices, a council chamber, meeting rooms and other requirements.

The necessary further modifications, including an internal lift, were also costed at that time and allowance has been made for inflation since then. The cost of purchase and refurbishment, in terms of provision for borrowings and repayments on these, has been included in long term financial planning.

The other key piece of work was getting cost estimates on a new building of similar capacity on a ‘greenfield’ site. Based on industry standard costs per square metre, this would have been at least $4.5million (excluding land purchase) compared with purchasing and refurbishing the School of Mines at under $2million.

In other words, Council has been able to purchase a building which will meet its needs for many years to come, in the perfect site adjacent to Town Hall, while keeping a significant heritage building within public ownership, at a much lower cost than building from scratch somewhere else.

The motion which was passed also included a request to identify what would be required to achieve a 6-star energy efficiency rating for the building. The costings for refurbishment include measures which will save on heating, cooling and water costs in the long term; we want to assess whether these will achieve a high objective standard and set an example of environmental efficiency.

When the huge amount of embodied energy is taken into account – the energy used up in the manufacture and transport of building materials such as brick, cement, steel and glass – an older building sensibly renovated is usually a much lower total energy user than even a highly efficient new building. The building has excellent thermal mass but requires measures to deal with windows facing west and east, among other constraints. With the right data, informed decisions can be made in calculating ‘payback’ times and assessing the benefit of various treatments.

Consolidating all of Council’s office staff in one location will bring operational efficiencies in areas of staff management, customer service and upgrades of information technology on a single site. The central location means staff who live outside of Castlemaine can more easily commute by public transport. Council can also ensure that most staff vehicles are parked on the CBD perimeter so as not to impact on the parking needs of local businesses.

Council undertook to support the community organisations operating as tenants in the School of Mines. BRIT has completed its move into the Council-owned building in Templeton St and we are working with Castlemaine Community House on its long term accommodation needs.

There is also a significant community advantage to having Council vacate its share of the former hospital site at Halford St. Workspace Australia desperately needs more space to respond to high demand from start-up businesses. While expenditure on renovations there some years ago was controversial and Council is moving out a little sooner than might have been expected, it can be argued that this will end up being a good way to support economic development in the Shire.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge the service of Robin Taylor as an elected councillor over three separate terms. He made significant contributions to robust democratic debate, and was a passionate advocate for small business and sporting clubs. Council thanks him for his service to the Shire, to Castlemaine Ward and Campbells Creek in particular.

Cr Philip Schier

Mayor, Mount Alexander Shire

30 April 2010

This is the text of the Mayor’s speech at the Anzac Day ceremony in Castlemaine.

This year we have seen a renewed debate about the role and meaning of Anzac Day in Australia’s public life.  For many, the 25th of April is a more powerful symbolic day than the 26th of January.  Australia Day perhaps marks the birth of what was to become a nation in the modern European sense, while Gallipolli has been described by some as marking our coming of age as a nation.

Others argue that it is wrong to feel that a war is needed for a nation to come of age, unless it is perhaps a war of independence in which a violent struggle was essential to the very founding of a nation.  It’s pointed out that our independence from Great Britain was a peaceful political process culminating in 1901 with Federation; a political rather than a military achievement.

Why is this notion of coming of age important, and why do we seek to find it in the stories of Gallipolli? Perhaps we feel that armed conflict is required to really test the character of a nation.  In our search for some defining Australian characteristics, those of us who have never fought in an armed conflict can find it all too easy to appropriate the accounts of Anzac courage and mateship at Gallipolli, hoping that we can claim some of those fine characteristics for ourselves.  Our national leaders often cling a little too hard to the symbolic imagery of war to bolster their own visions of Australian identity.

Maybe it’s as simple as trying to take the reality of Suvla Bay – a botched campaign causing terrible carnage and slaughter, the brutal cutting short of young men’s lives – and needing to make something meaningful of it.  Surely those lives couldn’t have been wasted, cast away for nothing.

With the exception of the Pacific theatre of the Second World War, most of our war history hasn’t involved defending Australia from direct threats of foreign invasion.  Go down the list from the Boer War, through the campaigns in Gallipolli and the Western front in the Great War, the European front of the Second World War, as well as Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and elsewhere, to Afghanistan in the present day.

The common thread is Australians playing a role in distant conflicts which don’t threaten us directly but are perceived as a threat to international security and peace.  And our servicemen and women have played this role with distinction.

This seems to be a key part of our national identity – doing not just ‘our bit’ but more than our share on the global stage.  Particularly in those earlier conflicts, as a young nation compared to those of Europe which we looked up to, we may have been a bit like a skinny younger brother striving extra hard to prove he’s come of age when compared to the first-born son.

As a relatively small population, we like to think we can punch above our weight in the international arena.  Perhaps, however, we can do this without actually punching.  Our great global contribution might be a different one.

I don’t believe that Anzac Day glorifies war when it is marked appropriately with simple reverence and thanks to those who sacrificed so much.  It does allow us to make that sacrifice meaningful when those who survive and those who follow [that’s us] acknowledge how lucky we are to be living in a relatively peaceful time and place, and that it is others who went before who’ve given us that luxury.

If we were able to inquire it of them, what would those who died at Gallipolli ask of us?  Those who died in this or any other armed conflict before or since, or who survived but lost limbs or eyes or sanity or innocence – how would they want their losses to be made meaningful?  What is asked of us?

The best answer I can think of is found in the examples of those who most acutely felt that loss – those who returned home shattered physically or mentally, and those who remained home but lost brothers, or sons, or daughters, or best friends.  There were large numbers who had to pick up the pieces following both world wars.

Those who so well knew the horrors of two world wars didn’t glorify war.  They quietly went about building a nation in peacetime, supporting a young democracy, building the institutions, the economy and the social structures which formed modern Australia.

This is how we too can honour the Anzac tradition.  By recognising that armed conflict is a senseless, brutal, hideous means of resolving differences, and one which should only be used when absolutely all else has failed.  By continuing to insist on a robust but peaceful  democracy and a society which finds non-violent ways to resolve conflict.  This is how we can do more than our bit to make the whole world a peaceful place.

To use a football analogy – given the more recent tradition of an Anzac Day football match – we recognise a Tony Lockett or Barry Hall as coming of age when he learns to curb his violent reactions and let his skills rather than his fists do the talking.  Our national coming of age similarly lies not in a war we fought long ago, but in what came after the war.

Our great contribution to the global community – where we can continue to exercise influence far beyond our numbers – is about maturity, self-restraint, negotiating skills, tolerance, and compassion.  Despite undercurrents of racism and examples which stand out as exceptions to the rule, we remain a beacon of multiracial tolerance and democratic stability to the rest of the world.

As we look back on the latter half of the twentieth century, the great achievement of postwar Europe has been the building of a largely open, cooperative multinational continent.  History will likewise mark the great achievement of postwar Australia as being the emergence of a largely open, cooperative multiracial nation.  In both cases, it is a couple of generations shattered by war which resolved to build something better, generations to whom we owe so much.

Every time we’re tested on this, every act of intolerance, every incident of violence and every small erosion of democratic freedoms shows that what those generations strove for can never be taken for granted.

When I look on my young daughter and sons, I hope they come of age into a nation and a world where nobody needs to serve in an armed conflict.  It is the common hope of all of us.  If it’s achieved, we’ll know that our nation and our world has really come of age.

This is how we honour the Anzacs, by working to achieve that world.

Lest we forget.

Cr Philip Schier
Mayor, Mt Alexander Shire

23 April 2010

At our last meeting, Council adopted a Walking and Cycling Strategy for 2010-2020.  The last Council commenced a response to community requests for a cycling strategy. It was later decided to incorporate pedestrian needs, due to the considerable overlap between these different forms of getting around. While it’s taken a long time, the end result is acomprehensive blueprint for a decade of council activity in this area.

The strategy was adopted with unanimous support from councillors, for several reasons. It’s a way to facilitate the very clear health benefits which will result from more people  walking or cycling more often. The long list of avoidable health conditions caused by lack of exercise is widely known and needs no elaboration here.

Less obvious are the social and mental health benefits when more of us get around in ways where we see each other face-to-face rather than in our metal and glass cocoons. We naturally feel more connected to our place and our neighbours when travelling in a way which allows us to eyeball each other, give a nod or even say hello.

The environmental benefits are also clear when we’re using muscle power rather than fossil fuel whenever we’re able. This includes not just short trips, but making walking or cycling at each end of a longer train or bus trip a more viable and attractive option than driving to the station, or simply driving the whole way.

Virtually every person in the Shire is a walker, especially given that ‘walking’ is defined in the Strategy as including getting around by a wheelchair, mobility scooter or other assisted means of being a pedestrian. Even when we travel mostly by car we are pedestrians once we park, get out and walk to the shops, workplaces or wherever we’re going.

Similarly, huge numbers of us ride bikes at least some of the time: more bicycles than cars have been sold in this country for several years in a row now. How many more of us just need a prod to dust off the old bike in the shed? You never forget how, and lycra isn’t mandatory!

What does it take to encourage us to get on that bike for the first time in ages, or use it more often, or to walk more regularly instead of instinctively getting in the car? What will help us to give our kids more independence in walking or riding to school

An increased sense of safety is one of the keys to change, so better infrastructure is important. We should have footpaths free of tripping hazards for the elderly, safe crossing points on busy roads and cyclists protected by on-road bike lanes and off-road paths. Even those who drive but never ride have an interest in reducing the potential for accidents between cars and cyclists or pedestrians.

Integrating our network of paths and trails is also critical – people aren’t likely to use a path or bike lane which ends part way along a journey and forces them back onto a road which feels unsafe. Clear signage advising of the best routes within and between townships will also help.

The strategy thus includes $5.6million of infrastructure works required to achieve a really well-integrated network of footpaths, on-road bike lanes, off-road bike paths and shared-use trails. This is a significant challenge but achievable over ten years, especially as this comprehensive strategy will greatly assist in attracting funding from other levels of government.

Council has requested priority works in the strategy be considered in framing the 2010/11 Budget which is being prepared at the moment; this is not a document to gather dust on a shelf.

The strategy lists many other tasks which will encourage full use of this infrastructure.  This will guide Council in planning and service delivery, as well as many partnerships such as awareness and education campaigns.

Council’s investment in this area will be repaid many times over – not necessarily to Council itself but to all of us through savings in health costs and reduced accidents, as well as fuel costs. Moreover, there are priceless intangibles such as feeling healthier, more alive and better connected.

Cr Philip Schier
Mayor, Mt Alexander Shire

Cr Philip Schier

16 April 2010

How do we, as a whole community, support our young people, enabling them to be creative and engaged through the transition from childhood to adulthood? What can we do to help them feel they are accepted and valued in their own right?  These questions are worth pondering in a week designated National Youth Week.

Council’s current four-year Plan, includes the aspiration that “we want to provide services that attract and retain families and encourage young people to stay in the Shire”. While we could have given more detail, this implies that we want our young people to feel valued and to have opportunities to meet their own aspirations here among us.

This is a whole-of-community responsibility which goes beyond what happens in families and the education system. There is also a benefit to the whole community if we get it right, going beyond merely avoiding the worst social effects of disengaged youth to really appreciating their gifts and energies and seeing them thrive when they are fully engaged.

A standard definition of ‘youth’ is the age group from 12 to 25 years. Most people acknowledge that many people in the upper half of this bracket will leave the Shire in order to pursue higher education or work opportunities further afield, though some will be able to commute to TAFE or university. It’s important, however, that there are local job opportunities for those who wish to stay and work in the  community where they’ve grown up.

Council and the business community therefore have a role in supporting economic activity and employment which create a range of opportunities for young people. Supporting the North Central Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) to connect young people to learning and employment opportunities is one of the partnering roles of Council.

However, it’s how we provide for young people’s needs during their secondary school years, or roughly the 12-18 age group, where Council has a more direct role through service provision, programs, facilities and advocacy.

During last year’s Castlemaine State Festival, there were several events and workshops specifically catering for young people’s interests, as well as the popular ‘Couch’ space alongside the Market Building. Council supported some follow-up events last year and is looking at options for a more regular youth space. The State Government funded Youth Participation and Access (YPA) Program may provide some opportunities to develop this, alongside a broader range of events through the successful FReeZA program.

Council is also developing an Arts and Culture Policy; this provides another opportunity for on-going inclusion of young people in an area where self-expression can be really important.

Sometimes middle-aged adults – like the current seven councillors! – can believe that by providing a facility such as a skate park, we’ve provided for young people’s recreational needs. Skate parks are indeed great spaces for those who use them, as are bike jumps places and similar youth-oriented facilities. Council is committed to seeing Stage 2 of the Castlemaine skate park through.

Yet, when I recently asked a group of about 30 Year 9 leaders how many of them personally used the skate park, not a hand went up. Discussion turned to other sporting interests and the need for quality facilities for junior sport.  This is a key function of Council’s service provision. The upgrading of facilities at Wesley Hill and other facilities around the Shire (including those for adult sport, as juniors transition into senior teams) is high on the list of Council’s infrastructure priorities over the next few years.

The needs of young people must be considered in Council’s decisions about aquatic facilities: summer outdoor pools offer great local social spaces for teenagers in hot weather, while an indoor facility would provide opportunities for year-round healthy exercise. Both are good – which is more beneficial if we have to choose between the two?

Improvements in public transport will also benefit an age group yet to have the independence of driving licences. This may enable more participation in out-of-school activities.

With some targeted programs alongside provision of facilities and advocacy with other agencies, Council can improve in taking its share of our collective responsibility for young people.

Cr Philip Schier
Mt Alexander Shire

9 April 2010

At our meeting on 23 March, Council resolved to make a submission to Coliban Water’s pricing review. The resolution, which included several points, was front page news in the Midland Express the following week. It’s worth explaining Council’s position.

It’s obvious that water is vital to any community, yet reliable reticulated water supplies make it easy to take it for granted unless those supplies come under threat. Several years of water restrictions have reminded us that water security needs good planning. Imagine the shock if Coliban Water had been forced to implement severe emergency measures to avoid the whole system running dry! This was probably perilously close following the exceptionally dry year of 2006.

Coliban’s infrastructure solution, supported by the State Government, was to fast-track the so-called Goldfields Superpipe, enabling Bendigo [and later, Ballarat], to draw on water from the Goulburn system. This enabled water in the southern storages around Malmsbury to be held back for use in our Shire and towns around Kyneton. These storages have recovered a little but are still at very low levels and the once-reliable spring rains can’t be counted on to fill them in future years as they were in the past.

So Coliban is planning further capital works, including a pipe supplying McKay Reservoir from the Goldfields pipe, thus bringing Goulburn water to Castlemaine and surrounding towns. This pipe will come via the Harcourt valley and include direct piping to the area’s horticulture and viticulture industries, with huge gains in efficiency.

Such infrastructure projects improve water security, but they are expensive. As with shire bridges and buildings, it has fallen on this generation to fund upgrading 19th century water infrastructure to 21st century standards. So Coliban Water wants to implement stepped price rises sooner than previously foreshadowed.

In advocating for the people of Mount Alexander Shire, Council was concerned that disadvantaged households with limited means of reducing their water use aren’t hit hardest by price rises. As well as pricing policy, this could include assistance with purchasing rainwater tanks, given that low-income groups have been least able to benefit from government rebates due to the up-front cost. Many people are able to get by solely on rainwater when tank systems are set up well.

We’ve also encouraged a pricing strategy which adapts and responds to water availability. Cost incentives in drier years, rather than just restrictions, would save water and potentially allow customers to use a bit more on fruit and vegie gardens if they are extra frugal with water use inside the house.

Council has been told that there are also rural customers around Taradale and Elphinstone at risk of losing their allocations, so we will also be advocating on their behalf.

An important request was for Coliban water to complete the decommissioning of leaky and wasteful open channels by piping the main supply from the southern storages to McKay Reservoir. Much more water is actually lost through seepage and evaporation than actually gets used at the end of our taps! Piping the supply wouldn’t stop evaporation from storage dams, but would dramatically cut the losses in transmission. If underground, the pipe would be fireproof.

The Goldfields Superpipe is a great emergency backup, but we should aim for self-reliance within the means of our own catchment. Reducing our dependence on the Goulburn system cuts the massive cost in both dollars and energy use [and hence greenhouse gas emissions] of pumping water over long distances and uphill. Besides, Goulburn River water is needed for food production in that catchment and environmental flows down the Murray.

The great benefit of Coliban’s supply system from the southern storages – which was beautifully engineered by 19th century standards – is that they can supply all the way to Castlemaine, Bendigo and beyond by gravity.

Coliban Water has made major strides in recent years to improve its strategic planning for the region and to better engage with local communities. Council seeks a continuing constructive dialogue with Coliban Water and interest groups such as Water is Life Mount Alexander [WiLMA] on this most basic of needs for all of us.

Cr Philip Schier
Mayor, Mr Alexander Shire

1 April 2010

Easter, with its origins in European spring festivals wedded to a Christian message of rebirth, is a time for celebrating new life.  In south-eastern Australia, Easter’s autumn timing coincides with the end of the fire danger season, carrying different reasons for hope and renewal.  This year’s higher-than-usual summer and early autumn rainfall has brought a flush of green and water flowing in the creeks, along with an extra degree of optimism in human spirits.

This time also comes just after the end of the summer swimming season in our outdoor pools.  After Easter, Council will be gathering the remainder of the information required for a decision on the provision of aquatic facilities for the next 20 to 30 years.

Some of this information comprises community feedback on the proposal to build an indoor aquatic centre and close three outdoor pools.  In order to give people extra time following the public information sessions, the closing date for feedback [via forms or Council’s website] has been extended by two weeks until Friday April 9.

Informal feedback through the public meetings I’ve attended, as well as local media coverage, suggests a diversity of views.  This is to be expected in a community with a variety of needs and interests.

Some people clearly support the proposal, others give conditional support with queries about the proposed location or funding arrangements, or energy use.  Others want an indoor facility but believe the main pool should be of 50m Olympic length rather than the proposed 25m.

Quite understandably, some – particularly those whose local outdoor pool is marked for closure – are firmly against the proposal, or would support an indoor facility only if their outdoor pool could be retained as well.

Obviously, the best way to please the vast majority about pools is to build a new indoor centre [preferably with a 50m pool] and to keep the much-loved summer outdoor pools as well.  Council would love to be able to deliver this sort of provision for the community.

A vital piece of information due to come in soon is a thorough assessment of each of the five existing outdoor pools, conducted by one of the two leading independent experts in Australia.  This will give the best possible costings for long-term operation of these pools.

Previous visual inspections have indicated that the pools in Maldon and Newstead are in relatively good condition, whereas those in Castlemaine, Harcourt and Chewton require complete new shells or reconstruction at very substantial cost.  If the detailed assessment confirms this, for Council to build a new indoor facility and keep all of the outdoor pools going would have one of three consequences.

Capital works in all other areas [sport facilities, roads and paths, community buildings etc] could be suspended for several years.  Or rates could go up by a huge margin rather than in keeping with the long-term financial plan.  Or the Shire could go into unsustainable deficit and pass on huge debt to a future generation.  None of these outcomes is justifiable.

So in this scenario, Council will need to choose either the proposed indoor aquatic facility with the consequent closure of three outdoor pools, or investing in renewing all five existing pools and abandoning the proposal for an indoor centre.  This will be one of those hard decisions where significant numbers of people will be disappointed whichever choice is made.

On the other hand, if the detailed assessment shows that previous long-term cost projections for our outdoor pools were too high for some or all of them, we’ll have to re-calculate the various options and see if it is possible to keep more outdoor pools going as well as providing an indoor facility.  There have been some suggestions made for different models of operating our outdoor pools.  We’re open to suggestions, as shown by current arrangements in Newstead, but only if this key hurdle of capital costs proves surmountable.

So, if you haven’t submitted a feedback form yet, please do so in the next week, especially if you have clear feelings in favour of either the indoor centre or the outdoor pools if we have to make a difficult choice between them.

Philip Schier

Mayor, Mount Alexander Shire

26 March 2010

Recently I attended an evening in Newstead organised by the Connecting Country Landscape Restoration Project and Newstead Landcare Group.

On arrival at the Community Centre, I was astonished to find close to 200 people inside. They had come to hear and see presentations from two experts, one on woodland ecosystems and one on woodland birds. One would have thought twenty people was a reasonable turnout for such an event.

The Connecting Country project is all about connecting landowners with the support needed to improve landscape health such as soil, water and habitat, with production in mind.  This involves opportunities for funding and education to improve and link isolated areas of remnant bushlands, whether one property or connecting a group of sites, including public land. The results in linking and growing remnant bushland are healthier landscapes able to support life and production around these improved areas.

As we heard of the numerous threatened species whose numbers have dwindled due to their habitats being reduced to ever-smaller patches, it occurred to me that many of these isolated plant and animal species are increasingly dependent on human beings, who also often struggle to keep motivated if they are left in isolation trying to restore the landscape.

Just as the plants and animals need bigger, linked-up patches of bush to survive and prosper, the many individual people trying to assist them need to be linked up socially and practically in order to feel they are part of a larger effort which is really making a difference. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at times when you’re tackling a very big issue in your small way, on your own.

So to see one out of every hundred people in the shire attending this gathering, and to know that each of those people has connections with family, friends and neighbours not present, was quite inspiring. For here is a reworking of the phenomenally successful landcare movement which for a long time has been transforming the landscape locally and across the country.

The goal is not to return the whole landscape to its original woodland state. Rather, it is to support the restoration of key areas of native vegetation as links between existing woodland areas. On private farmland, this can be in a way which maintains and even enhances productive agriculture. Better water quality in streams and rivers is another positive outcome.

Brush-tailed phascogale

People sometimes wonder why it’s important to protect the habitat of the swift parrot or the brush-tailed phascogale. At times, I’ve even heard it said that we should be looking after the needs of people, not birds and marsupials. One of the reasons I think it’s important is that a bird like the swift parrot has parallels with the canary in the coalmine, as an indicator that something is amiss and urgent remedial action is required.

If species are becoming extinct across the globe at the fastest rate in human history – which they are – and if Australia’s rate of extinction is the highest in the world – which it is – it’s clear that things are out of whack in our relationship with the rest of the natural world. Sometimes we forget we’re creatures of the natural world just as dependent on air and water and a sustainable food supply as every other species.

Swift parrot

So it’s not just a case of being saddened by the potential loss of another cute marsupial or pretty parrot. It’s an awareness that these losses are irreversible and could be sending our own species on the same trajectory if we trash our own habitat.

That’s why I was inspired to see so many people of different ages – including townsfolk and farmers, old bushies and self-sufficiency converts – all listening intently to explanations of why woodlands are different from forests, and how amateurs can monitor bird numbers in a way which adds important data to a scientific understanding of changes in the natural landscape.

This work will feed into Council’s integrated Environment Strategy which is being developed this year, as well as helping inform our approach to urban growth and other aspects of land use planning. Council is supporting the Connecting Country project through the provision of office accommodation at 37 Hargraves St, Castlemaine. Drop in at the office for more information, phone 5472 1594 or see the website at  www.connectingcountry.org.au

19 March 2010

The hottest days are past, the mornings are fresh and cool and the days are noticeably shortening.  In an odd-numbered year, this is about the time that we would be building up to the opening of the Castlemaine State Festival, one of the premier arts festivals in Victoria and unique for a regional festival in having this status.  It’s an event we’re rightly proud of and one which has been instrumental in creating Mount Alexander Shire’s reputation as a place where arts and culture thrive.

By its very nature, however, a festival held once every two years doesn’t in itself make for a cultural community.  Without other things going on in between, a peak event like this might be like a visiting circus: splendid while it’s here, but an occasional spectator event rather than one which makes us all acrobats and lion tamers.

We can only claim to be a truly artistic and cultural community when these dimensions of life are fully embedded in our everyday existence.  Part of this is about having a good number of high-quality performers, visual artists, craftspeople and artisans dwelling among us and fashioning a living here.  We have many such people in this shire, with national and international reputations, and it’s also a constant surprise to find how many people are quietly going about pursuits such as hand-crafting beautiful musical instruments or devising shows which go on tour around the country.

In this sense of the proportion of professional practitioners, the arts are a significant contributor to our local economy: a diverse, loosely-connected industry comprising a large number of micro-businesses.

The level of public art within a community is another indicator of cultural health.  How much is on show, whether in temporary exhibitions and performances or permanent galleries and outdoor sculptures?  Is it all ‘highbrow’, traditional art or is there an interesting mix  which challenges our ideas of what art can be?  There’s a lot going on here, but are there ways in which we could be doing more, or engaging more people?

Perhaps the ultimate in artistic communities occurs when creative pursuits aren’t left just to the professionals or some kind of cultural elite, but where every one of us becomes a practitioner of some kind of art, from playing an instrument to drawing or painting or making sculptures from junk in the back shed.  Just as it’s good for all of us to be physically active and not couch potatoes watching elite athletes on tv, it’s also good for our emotional health to find expression for the creative spark dwelling in each of us.

In a place such as Bali, if you explore beyond the flashy tourist spots, this is largely true.  From an early age, children learn to be a painter or a woodcarver or a potter or a dancer or a gamelan musician, depending on family or home village tradition.  It’s simply part of what you learn growing up, almost as natural as learning to walk and talk.  I’m not saying we should or even could be just the same within our culture.  We could, however, considerably enrich our individual lives and our shared experience by seeing ourselves as creative doers, not just consumers of other people’s creative product on a stage or a screen or in a gallery.

What do you think?  Council is developing an Arts and Cultural Strategy to provide a framework for supporting all sorts of cultural activity in Mount Alexander Shire.  There are different ways of going about this.  The arts – even defining what art is – can be controversial and there are lots of views about what should or shouldn’t be done to encourage cultural life.

If you would like to have some input into this issue, please complete a survey either in hard copy (available from Town Hall or the Halford St office) or online at www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au before Wednesday 24 March. For more information please contact Jon Harris, Council’s Arts Officer, on 5471 1793.

Cr Philip Schier

Mayor, Mount Alexander Shire

12 March 2010

Last year, I wrote a column in anticipation of the arrival of a Blade Electric Vehicle as the Mayor’s car. It’s time for an update on whether the ratepayer investment has been worthwhile.

You may recall that the vehicle is a Hyundai Getz with all the petrol bits (motor, tank and fuel systems) removed and replaced by an all-electric motor and battery system. The car recharges from a standard mains power point, as well as recovering some spent energy through regenerative braking. Every time it decelerates using engine braking rather than the brake pedal, the generation system puts some charge back into the batteries. As a result, the range between overnight mains charges is greater in town with stop-start traffic than it is on the highway – the opposite of a petrol or diesel vehicle.
Unlike a hybrid, there is no petrol motor assisting. An all-electric brings the advantage of much simpler maintenance. The down side is the limited range from fully charged to empty: 80 to 120km, depending on factors like regenerative braking and total load.

Because most of my everyday driving comprises short trips in and around Castlemaine or in and back to one of the other townships in the shire, the range is perfectly adequate 95% of the time. If it were our only family car, there would be significant compromises as it wouldn’t manage a weekend trip (besides, it’s registered for only four occupants, and there are five of us). But our family car – a small diesel wagon which is very efficient on long trips – does for these.

A recent bonus for me is that a bakery in central Bendigo has dedicated two parking spaces with accessible power points for electric vehicles. This means that if I have a regional meeting or appointment in Bendigo, a top-up charge for an hour or two ensures I get back without fearing running flat between Harcourt and home!

Overall, the Electron is a quiet yet zippy town runabout which is very suitable for its purpose as the current mayor’s vehicle. If the next mayor is from one of the non-Castlemaine wards and needs to drive further each day, it may be less suitable, in which case a different vehicle can be requested and the Electron will find another role within the Council fleet.

There have been a few minor technical glitches, mostly to do with the evolving software which is at the heart of an effective electric car. Mr Blade has been ever helpful in fixing these at no cost to Council and every improvement gets built into the next model.

The initial cost of $46,000 for the car and the conversion to electric-drive was subsidised by a State Government grant of $11,000, as part of a program which includes university monitoring to evaluate seven vehicles which have been bought by councils. Without this subsidy, the considerable up-front cost would have been a high premium to pay for fulfilling the principle of emissions-free motoring (achieved by using renewable sources of electricity). The conversion cost should reduce as production volumes increase, and if it falls enough to eliminate the subsidy we got, the car will be competitive price-wise with mid-size fossil-fuel cars. The prices expected for the first round of all-electric vehicles coming from the major manufacturers are far higher.

Looking at the whole-of-life cost, a guaranteed buy-back price from Blade Electric Vehicles after 3 years means a far lower rate of depreciation than expected with standard fleet vehicles due to poor trade-in values. Along with minimal maintenance costs and cheaper fuel cost per km (presently no cost to Council as I’m charging the car at home), the ratepayer will pay around the same overall as for the previous diesel Holden Astra. And considerably less than for the larger prestige car typically selected as a mayoral status symbol.

Overall, it’s proving to be an affordable contribution to Council’s greenhouse gas reduction target, providing useful real-world information for possible future fleet purchases. For the general public it could enter consideration for those who mostly do short trips and have alternatives like trains or hire cars for occasional longer trips, or as a second car for families who need more than one.

If peak-oil predictions of major fuel price rises prove true, the whole cost dynamic may change rapidly. In that scenario a local electric car producer, with a labour force trained in auto re-engineering courtesy of the hotrod industry, could be a great asset to the shire and beyond.

Cr Philip Schier
Mayor, Mount Alexander Shire