Veronica Dowman has been a Bass Coast councillor since 2005 and mayor since 2010. Here she looks back on some of the highlights – and frustrations – of seven years in local politics.
WHEN I first stood for the Bass Coast Council in 2005, my key platform policy was to protect and enhance the environment and our natural assets and, in particular, to protect our coast and agricultural land from inappropriate development.
My economic platform was similar to that held by the current candidates on the Brown ticket. I believed rates could be capped at CPI without reducing services and community facilities. I was mistaken. It was only after I was elected that I began to understand the economic and legal constraints under which councils operate.
Our council has to fund 150 services and an appropriate number of staff to deliver these services. It also has to maintain, renew and upgrade roads, footpaths, parks, gardens and buildings and meet residents' expectations for new facilities and capital works programs. We can’t do all this by capping rates at CPI, currently 1.6 per cent, or by promising not to exceed an arbitrary figure of 4 per cent.
I had also called for the introduction of a developer's contribution fund but I’ve found since that implementing one is a very expensive and complex process and – as has been experienced in other growth areas – might not recoup enough money for the required infrastructure. The previous and current state governments both promised an “off-the-shelf development contribution plan” and we’re still waiting for this. In the meantime, the council has made it a requirement of a development plan overlay that the developer agree to make contributions for off-site infrastructure.
Our greatest achievement during my time on the council has been establishing structure plans for all our townships directing where growth should occur and thereby helping to protect our coast, environment, natural assets and rich agricultural land. This helped to clinch the Planning Minister’s decision last year to reverse the rezoning of the farm land in Ventnor for housing.
The highlight of my time on the council has been working with community groups to achieve some fantastic outcomes. In Leadbeater ward, we succeeded in having Dakin’s Bend cut back; underground power installed for the desal plant; the Grantville & District Memorial Park and Coronet Bay boat ramp funded and constructed; and established the Grantville Bendigo Community Bank and Grantville ambulance station.
All of these were achieved as a result of the community’s hard work, the help of a supportive council and in some cases the help of both the former and current state governments. Partnerships are so important!
The biggest challenge for council is balancing the need to keep rates affordable while continuing to meet the increasing demand and expectations for works and services from our rapidly growing community. Nonetheless, through sound financial management, we have maintained the 15th-lowest average rates and charges per property out of 79 Victorian shires.
That’s why I’m so frustrated by the use of irrelevant statistics to criticise the council, eg, that we have the seventh-highest rates per head of population. About half our ratepayers live in other shires but the waste truck still needs to pass their holiday homes, we still have to provide libraries, a swimming pool and sporting facilities and we have to maintain the roads, gardens, parks, foreshore facilities regardless of the time they spend at their holiday homes.
Other frustrations: VCAT determinations that allow for higher-density development in inappropriate locations; Rescode, which allows housing that isn’t appropriate for coastal and rural townships; and the bias of most, but not all, of the local press through omission and poor reporting.
A typical day in the life of a councillor is meetings, meetings, meetings. The council is represented on 18 external committees and 10 council committees that develop policies and advise the council. You need time for committee meetings, policy workshops, public briefings and the monthly council meeting. You need to answer emails, phone calls and other correspondence and meet residents on site. In the evenings and on weekends you attend ratepayers, progress, recreation and other community group meetings and events. As mayor, you represent and advocate on behalf of all residents across the shire, respond to media enquiries and represent the shire when advocating to state and federal government bodies.
I decided to retire just before last Christmas. I’m going to travel and look for a part-time job in about 12 months’ time. I felt it was time for Leadbeater to have a new councillor with fresh ideas and who is positive, energetic and passionate about their community.
It’s fantastic to see so many people interested in the election and prepared to put their hand up and serve their community. It’s a sign of how healthy and engaged our community is that we have so many candidates. I’m particularly impressed that women are standing in six of seven wards.
To the new councillors, I would say avoid factionalism and bloc voting; make decisions based on evidence and what is best for the community rather than on an allegiance to an outside group or others.
Be prepared to work very long hours, to interact with your community groups and local businesses and aim to leave the shire in a better place when you retire from the council. If you do, you will find your time on the Bass Coast Council to be the most challenging, the most rewarding and the most insightful years of your life. I did.
My economic platform was similar to that held by the current candidates on the Brown ticket. I believed rates could be capped at CPI without reducing services and community facilities. I was mistaken. It was only after I was elected that I began to understand the economic and legal constraints under which councils operate.
Our council has to fund 150 services and an appropriate number of staff to deliver these services. It also has to maintain, renew and upgrade roads, footpaths, parks, gardens and buildings and meet residents' expectations for new facilities and capital works programs. We can’t do all this by capping rates at CPI, currently 1.6 per cent, or by promising not to exceed an arbitrary figure of 4 per cent.
I had also called for the introduction of a developer's contribution fund but I’ve found since that implementing one is a very expensive and complex process and – as has been experienced in other growth areas – might not recoup enough money for the required infrastructure. The previous and current state governments both promised an “off-the-shelf development contribution plan” and we’re still waiting for this. In the meantime, the council has made it a requirement of a development plan overlay that the developer agree to make contributions for off-site infrastructure.
Our greatest achievement during my time on the council has been establishing structure plans for all our townships directing where growth should occur and thereby helping to protect our coast, environment, natural assets and rich agricultural land. This helped to clinch the Planning Minister’s decision last year to reverse the rezoning of the farm land in Ventnor for housing.
The highlight of my time on the council has been working with community groups to achieve some fantastic outcomes. In Leadbeater ward, we succeeded in having Dakin’s Bend cut back; underground power installed for the desal plant; the Grantville & District Memorial Park and Coronet Bay boat ramp funded and constructed; and established the Grantville Bendigo Community Bank and Grantville ambulance station.
All of these were achieved as a result of the community’s hard work, the help of a supportive council and in some cases the help of both the former and current state governments. Partnerships are so important!
The biggest challenge for council is balancing the need to keep rates affordable while continuing to meet the increasing demand and expectations for works and services from our rapidly growing community. Nonetheless, through sound financial management, we have maintained the 15th-lowest average rates and charges per property out of 79 Victorian shires.
That’s why I’m so frustrated by the use of irrelevant statistics to criticise the council, eg, that we have the seventh-highest rates per head of population. About half our ratepayers live in other shires but the waste truck still needs to pass their holiday homes, we still have to provide libraries, a swimming pool and sporting facilities and we have to maintain the roads, gardens, parks, foreshore facilities regardless of the time they spend at their holiday homes.
Other frustrations: VCAT determinations that allow for higher-density development in inappropriate locations; Rescode, which allows housing that isn’t appropriate for coastal and rural townships; and the bias of most, but not all, of the local press through omission and poor reporting.
A typical day in the life of a councillor is meetings, meetings, meetings. The council is represented on 18 external committees and 10 council committees that develop policies and advise the council. You need time for committee meetings, policy workshops, public briefings and the monthly council meeting. You need to answer emails, phone calls and other correspondence and meet residents on site. In the evenings and on weekends you attend ratepayers, progress, recreation and other community group meetings and events. As mayor, you represent and advocate on behalf of all residents across the shire, respond to media enquiries and represent the shire when advocating to state and federal government bodies.
I decided to retire just before last Christmas. I’m going to travel and look for a part-time job in about 12 months’ time. I felt it was time for Leadbeater to have a new councillor with fresh ideas and who is positive, energetic and passionate about their community.
It’s fantastic to see so many people interested in the election and prepared to put their hand up and serve their community. It’s a sign of how healthy and engaged our community is that we have so many candidates. I’m particularly impressed that women are standing in six of seven wards.
To the new councillors, I would say avoid factionalism and bloc voting; make decisions based on evidence and what is best for the community rather than on an allegiance to an outside group or others.
Be prepared to work very long hours, to interact with your community groups and local businesses and aim to leave the shire in a better place when you retire from the council. If you do, you will find your time on the Bass Coast Council to be the most challenging, the most rewarding and the most insightful years of your life. I did.