The Surf Coast Shire has gone back on its word and changed the number of properties AFTER the community's protest vote. Council officers and Councillors confirmed - in writing and verbally - on more than one occasion the total numbers at 311 properties.
The protest vote was overwhelming, needing 156 for 51%, and getting 188 objections.
Council's decision after the vote to INCREASE the base number of properties to 358
by including potential subdivisions shows true contempt for its constituents.
This devious re-jig of the numbers attempts to try to reduce the community's win to a margin of just 8 instead of the true 32.
Yet even then there are still enough votes to beat this scheme, even with this latest act of dissembling by Council.
This is clearly outlined in Local Govt Act: Section 163B (6): http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/lga1989182/s163b.html
Yet Council is insisting that 'hearings' now occur, as advised only by a notice posted by stealth on its website.
(Was Council planning to actually communicate this to us in any meaningful way, i.e. by letter?)
These hearings are surely are unnecessary in the face of such true and overwhelming opposition.
What a waste of MORE of rate-payer's money, their precious time and energy.
Do these Councillors really not understand we have businesses to run families to attend to?
They are paid for this ridiculous waste of time, we are not.
This scheme should be abandoned, it has been overwhelmingly opposed.
Council has wasted so much of rate-payers money already on this since 2008, money far better spent on road maintenance.
This is a scandal.
Council creates impossible deadlines, devises unbeatable odds to fabricate a Herculean task that citizens must undergo just to obtain a fair representation. And when we beat even these most devious of rules, they change the rules.
It's no wonder people end up with scant respect for Council and Councillors, and despising the whole system.
