Why Glen Eira Residents Are Paying Higher Rates
The Age
Tuesday July 23, 2002
If Glen Eira's footpaths were laid in a straight line they would run from Caulfield Town Hall to Sydney, its roads to Mount Gambier and its drains to Swan Hill.
The municipality - which includes Caulfield, Elsternwick, Bentleigh and Murrumbeena - also has 151 buildings and community facilities, 50 car parks, 40 shopping strips, and sports grounds and parks that would cover 80 MCGs.
The problem is many of these facilities, worth $500 million, are old and decaying.
"Anyone who thinks we can maintain all this when we generate only $7 million a year for capital expenditure is seriously mistaken," the council's budget papers stated. So this financial year it has proposed collecting an extra $6 million - 16 per cent more than last year - in rates and garbage charges. Half that amount would be used for extra capital works.
``Council's view is that people moving into the City of Glen Eira are investing a lot of their hard-earned cash to live here," the council's community relations director, Paul Burke, said. ``There is no point living in a home that is worth a lot of money if, when you walk out the door, you trip on the footpath."
Meanwhile, Victoria should not expect wholesale changes to municipal boundaries following a decision to split the rural Delatite Shire into two, Premier Steve Bracks said yesterday.
He confirmed the government had agreed to divide the municipality into a Mansfield-based shire and a separate Rural City of Benalla, following a strong community push and a report by a panel that was set up to review a split.
"It's not our intent to have significant or wholesale changes to council boundaries," he said.
The Kennett government merged 210 municipalities into 78. As a result, residents' groups and some councils had ``regularly" called on Labor to alter council boundaries, Mr Bracks said. In Delatite, the calls for a split had been overwhelming, and surveys revealed residents were prepared to accept a significant rate increase to meet the cost of running two councils.
Mr Bracks, who was touring Benalla with cabinet ministers, backed away from an earlier commitment to oversee the amalgamation of Albury in New South Wales and the neighbouring Victorian city of Wodonga.
The public rejected the proposal even though it had been backed by each of the councils when it was announced in March last year.
A SUBURB'S CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE
EAST BENTLEIGH MEMORIAL POOL
The pool leaks and requires substantial funds to keep it open. The council has set aside $65,000 to fix water pressure and buy a heating unit. An inspection will see if the water slide can be used next season.
PRINCES PARK PAVILIONS
Soccer pavilion and D. C. Ricker pavilion in Caulfield South park are decrepit. The council is hoping to demolish two pavilions and build a new pavilion and youth recreation area. Cost: $3.7 million.
FOOTPATHS
The council allocated $450,000 this year for footpath replacement out of its $3 million capital works fund. This 50-metre stretch of footpath in Moodie Street, Caulfield, will cost $2000 to replace.
ELSTERNWICK LIBRARY
According to the council this library does not meet people's expectations. It is yet to decide whether to fix it or look elsewhere. It has set aside $1 million this financial year for a library in Carnegie but nothing for Elsternwick.
© 2002 The Age
