A radical review of the way our four councils are structured is about to be signed off, just eight months out from the October local government elections.
Maribyrnong, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Wyndham councils are among 39 of Victoria’s 79 local government areas to be reviewed in 2024.
Under the new 2020 Local Government Act all metropolitan, ‘interface’ and regional city councils are to be configured as ‘single council’ wards.
For Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay, Brimbank and Wyndham residents, this means we will be voting for one councillor in a much smaller area, as opposed to ‘multi-councillors’ in a large area as we did in 2020.
As populations increase in our wider local government areas, the idea is to make individual councillors more accessible and focused on one smaller ward.
Final review reports on all four of our local councils have been submitted to Local Government Minister and member for Williamstown, Melissa Horne, for consideration.
The Governor will sign off on the final structures over the next few weeks and these will be made public later this month.
You can find them here:
https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/electoral-structure-reviews/councils-under-review#completed
Maribyrnong
Maribyrnong’s four wards will become seven, each with one councillor.
Two models were proposed but this is the preferred model:
The existing River ward becomes Burndap and River wards. Burndap will contain Footscray’s north and Maribyrnong’s south, and River will encompass the northern parts of Maribyrnong and Maidstone.
Stony Creek ward becomes Braybrook and West Footscray wards. Braybrook contains Braybrook and the parts of Maidstone south of Ballarat Road, and West Footscray includes Footscray West and south-west, and Tottenham.
Yarraville becomes Gamon, McIvor, and Whitehall wards, with Geelong Road providing a boundary.
While the review found Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville residents ‘generally identify’ as one community, the area was too large to be included in one ward.
Braybrook did not have enough voters to form a ward, so the suburb needed to extend into Maidstone.
Both models can be found here:
https:/www.vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/electoral-structure-reviews/maribyrnong
Brimbank
Brimbank’s four wards will become 11, with one councillor each.
Three models were put forward, with the third model below ‘most likely to comply with the Act to the 2028 Council election’. Model three:
Grasslands ward is divided into four to accommodate a new Albanvale ward, the north end of a new Mount Derrimut ward and the southern end of a new Kings ward.
Divides Taylors ward into the new Organ Pipes and Watergardens wards, the majority of the new Copernicus ward and the north of the new Kings ward.
Divides the old Harvester Ward in two to create the new St Albans and Maribyrnong River wards.
Divides the old Horseshoe Bend ward into the new Sunshine and Sunshine West wards, and encompasses the southern half of the new Mount Derrimut ward.
‘One drawback of Model three is that parts of the suburb of St Albans are divided across four wards,’ the review said.
All three proposed models can be found here:
https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/electoral-structure-reviews/brimbank
Hobsons Bay
Hobsons Bay’s five wards become seven, with one councillor each.
Three models were submitted, with model one retaining ‘nearly’ all existing ward boundaries of the current structure.
Model one:
Divides the existing Cherry Creek ward in two, to create Altona and Altona North wards.
Divides the existing Strand ward into three, to create Spotswood, Williamstown and Williamstown North wards. Divides the existing Wetlands ward in two, to create Laverton and Altona Meadows wards.
It found the proposed Wetlands Ward included the locality of Seabrook and the southern portion of Altona Meadows.
‘However there is no direct road connection between these two communities,’ it said.
The three models can be found here:
https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/electoral-structure-reviews/hobsons-bay
Wyndham
Wyndham’s three wards become 11, with one councillor each.
The review submitted two models for consideration, with model two ‘providing a more even distribution of voters across wards’.
Model two:
Divides the existing Irmaroo ward into three, creating Irmaroo, Quandong and Werribee Park wards.
Divides the existing Chaffey ward into four, creating Brinbeal, Wimba, Heatherdale and Grange wards.
Divides the existing Harrison into four wards creating Bemin, Waterholes, Featherbrook and Saltwater wards.
The two models can be found here:
https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/electoral-structure-reviews/wyndham
A Council is only as good as the people who get involved!
HOBSONS BAY CITY COUNCIL
7pm Tuesday 13 February at the Hobsons Bay Civic Centre.
The meeting will also be live streamed.
MARIBYRNONG CITY COUNCIL
6.30pm Tuesday 20 February at Council Chamber, Braybrook Community Hub, 107–139
Churchill Avenue.
BRIMBANK CITY COUNCIL
7pm Tuesday 20 February at Council Chamber, 301 Hampshire Rd, Sunshine.
WYNDHAM CITY COUNCIL
7pm Tuesday 27 December at Council Chamber, Wyndham Civic Centre, 45 Princes Highway.
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