Subdivision Review
Yarra Ranges Shire Council

Addendum Report

20 February

26 March 2012

Introduction

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) published a Proposed Ward Boundaries Report outlining changes to the boundary between the Melba and Wallings wards and the boundary between Billanook and Chandler wards of Yarra Ranges Shire Council on
6 February 2012.

After considering feedback in written submissions and at the public hearing on
14 March 2012, the VEC is putting forward an alteration to the change it proposed to the boundary between the Billanook and Chandler wards. This change is being put to the public for further comment as concern was raised in the submissions and at the public hearing that the advertisement regarding the release of the Proposed Ward Boundaries Report was not placed in the Mount Evelyn Mail. Yarra Ranges Shire Council did advise the VEC that advertisements should be placed in this publication; the omission was an administrative oversight. The VEC will consider the public response to this addendum report together with all public input into the review process to date, before releasing a final report. Accordingly, the VEC has extended the date for release of its final report to Thursday, 26 April 2012.

Background

Legislative basis

Subdivision reviews are allowed for by the Local Government Act 1989 (the Act).Their purpose is to consider the location of the ward boundaries to ensure the number of electors represented by each councillor in the municipality is within 10 per cent of the average number of electors represented by all councillors (compliance may be determined by reference to the number of electors at the time of the review or the projected number electors as at the entitlement date for the next general election).

Subdivision review provisions only apply to councils:

  1. that are not scheduled to conduct an electoral representation review before the next general election; and
  2. where two years before the council is to hold a general election, the VEC considers that the boundaries for the wards of the Council are unlikely to meet the equality requirements of the legislation as at the time of their next general election.

A subdivision review is only required where the Minister for Local Government writes to a Council and directs them to undertake a review pursuant to section 219K of the Act.

Yarra Ranges Shire Council received notice in April 2010, from the Minister of Local Government, that the Council must appoint the VEC to conduct an independent subdivision review. Based on projected enrolment estimates, Melba Ward was considered unlikely to conform to the equality requirements of the legislation.

Scope of the review

Subdivision reviews can onlyexamine the location of ward boundaries. They cannot look at the total number of councillors, the number of councillors in a ward, ward names, the external boundaries of a municipality or whether a municipality should be divided into two municipalities or amalgamated.

Electoral representation reviews (as opposed to subdivision reviews) consider a broader range of topics, including the number of councillors, whether or not there should be wards, how many councillors there should be in a ward and how many wards there should be (if any). Yarra Ranges Shire Council is scheduled to undergo an electoral representation review considering these matters in 2020.

The VEC and subdivision reviews

The VEC has conducted subdivisionreviews since 2008 on appointment by local councils. The Act was changed in 2010 to define the VEC as the only agency authorised to undertake the reviews.

Subdivision review process

  • Changes are modelled to the location of ward boundaries to achieve the equality requirements. The VEC uses both the current number of electors and the electors projected to be on the roll for the next general election, in addition to data from the Department of Planning and Community Development and Forecast.id.
  • Where possible, a “minimal change” approach is used when moving the location of ward boundaries, to ensure that changes affect as few electors as possible. (It should be noted that changes to the boundaries of wards that do not conform to the equal voter number requirements often have a flow-on effect and changes may need to be made to the boundaries of other wards, even through they may currently conform to the voter number requirements).
  • When modelling changes to ward boundaries, due consideration is given to the following factors:
  • relevant issues that were considered as part of the representation review;
  • area and physical features of the terrain;
  • means of travel, traffic arteries, and any special difficulties in connection;
  • clear boundary delineators;
  • communities of interest and;
  • the likelihood of changes in the number of electors before the next election.
  • A map of the proposed boundaries was published in the Lilydale Yarra Valley Leader, Yarra Ranges Weekly, Mountain Views Mail, Upper Yarra Mail, Ranges Trader Mail,Ferntree Gully/Belgrave Mail and The Age on Tuesday, 7 February 2012. It also featured in the Free Press Leader on Wednesday, 8 February 2012. The advertisement informed the community of the subdivision review and invited written comments or objections to the proposed change.
  • A proposed boundaries report containing a detailed map of the proposed boundaries together with the rationale for the boundary changes and information about the process was made available for inspection at the offices of the VEC and the Council. Alternatively, the Report could be downloaded from the VEC's website – vec.vic.gov.au - or hard copies could be requested by contacting the VEC’s dedicated helpline –
    131 832.

  • Three writtensubmissionswere consideredby the panel and a public hearing was held at the Yarra Ranges Shire Council Offices on Thursday, 15 March 2012. One speaker chose to speak to his submission.
  • This Addendum Report is made available from the VEC and Council Offices. Alternatively, the Report can be downloaded from the VEC's website – vec.vic.gov.au - or hard copies can be requested by contacting the VEC’s dedicated helpline – 131 832.
  • A final report containing the VEC’s recommendations will be submitted to the Minister for Local Government on 26 April 2012.
  • Any changes accepted by the Minister will apply at the next general election in October 2012.

Current Electoral Structure

Yarra Ranges Shire Council

The electoral representation review for Yarra Ranges Shire Council took place in 2007. Following the review, the Minister for Local Government determined that the structure of Yarra Ranges Shire Council should be:

Nine councillors elected from nine wards.

Profile

Yarra Ranges Shire is located on the fringe of metropolitan Melbourne and is geographically the largest of all the metropolitan councils.[1] The western section of the Council area includes the urban fringe of Melbourne; the central sections of the Council area comprises the foothills of the Yarra Ranges and is home to numerous townships, and the eastern half of Yarra Ranges contains mostly rural land and native forest while smaller townships are scattered throughout.[2]

Around 70 per cent of the Shire’s population live in the ‘urban’ areas of the Shire which represents just 3 per cent of its landmass. The remaining population is distributed throughout the rural areas.[3]

Yarra Ranges is projected to experience a slow but steady population increase in over the next decade.[4]

Number of electors

The table below shows the number of current electors in each ward and their deviation from the average number of electors per ward.

Ward Name / Electors / Deviation
Billanook / 12,769 / +5.88%
Chandler / 11,043 / -8.43%
Chirnside / 12,316 / +2.12%
Lyster / 11,416 / -5.34%
Melba / 13,475 / +11.73%
O’Shannassy / 12,304 / +2.02%
Ryrie / 12,097 / 0.31%
Streeton / 11,484 / -4.78%
Walling / 11,633 / -3.54%

The table shows that Melba Ward is recording a deviation beyond the ten per cent tolerance allowed by legislation and the VEC’s projected enrolment data shows that this deviation would further increase in the period leading up to the local council election this year. In addition, the enrolment trends show that Billanook Ward is also set to deviate beyond the 10 per cent tolerance by October 2016.

The boundaries of Melba and Billanook Wards need to be changed to bring them into line with the average number of electors for all wards.

Proposed boundary changes

The VEC always prefers to make the most minimal adjustments in subdivision reviews in order to affect the least possible number of electors while at the same time ensuring that the structure will provide fair and equitable representation for electorsuntil the next scheduled electoral representation review.

In its Proposed Boundaries Report, the VEC recommended two changes. The first change addressed the growth of electors in Melba Ward. With 13,475 electors, Melba Ward has more enrolledelectorsthan any other ward in the municipality and the VEC’s projected enrolment data shows that this number would further increase in the period leading up to the local Council election this year. To correct this imbalance, the VEC proposed altering the boundary with Walling Ward, because it has the lowest number of electors of all the adjacent wards.

The boundary between these two wards currently runs along Cambridge Road to Holmes Road and Dryden Concourse, then along Cardigan Road to Taylor Road. It was proposed to change the boundary to run along Hull Road to join Taylor Road, including more of the suburb of Mooroolbark in Walling Ward. This boundary uses roads that are easy to identify and affects 1056 electors in total.

Under the Local Government Act 1989,it is not possible to undertake two subdivision reviews in a row, without prompting a full electoral representation review. To protect the municipality from an early electoral representation review, the VEC recommended a second minor boundary change to pre-emptivelycorrect an imbalance in Billanook Ward which, according to the VEC’s projected data, would also grow beyond the 10 per cent average by October 2016.

Billanook Ward is adjacent to Chandler Ward which has the least amount of electors in the Shire. Therefore, it seemed logical to change the boundary to increase the number of electors in Chandler Ward. The current boundary runs along McKillop Road to Hunter Road and it was proposed to transfer the semi-rural area between Monbulk Road and Clegg Road into Chandler Ward. This change inevitably split the foothills township of Mount Evelyn andaffected 523 electors.

Response Submissions

Three submissions were received in response to the Proposed Boundary Report.

Mr Bailey, a resident of Mount Evelyn for the past 45 years and previous councillor for the Shire of Lillydale, wrote in support of the proposed boundaries, stating ‘there could be no better way to meet the equality requirements.’

Yarra Ranges Shire Council also put forward a submission which stated that:

The VEC’s proposed changes to the Billanook, Chandler, Melba and Walling Wards addresses the equality of representation issues faced both now and in 2016, whilst affecting a minimal number of voters and delivering clean boundary lines.

The Yarra Ranges Shire Council submission also queried whether there would be issues of equality of representation for Chirnside Ward in the near future considering the large redevelopment sites within the suburb of Chirnside Park, which are expected to be in place by 2016. The VEC can confirm that these developments were factored into the VEC’s original proposals. The VEC combines data from the Department of Planning and Community Development and Forecast.id to inform its decisions and complement its enrolment data projections. The VEC is confident that Chirnside Ward will remain within the 10 per cent tolerance until the next scheduled electoral representation review in 2020.

The third submission was received from the Mount Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association (MEEPPA) and outlined strong objections to the proposed boundary change in Billanook Ward. Mr Smith, President of MEEPPA, spoke to the submission at the public hearing which was held on Thursday, 15 March at the Yarra Ranges Shire Council Offices.

Public Hearing

Mr Smithexpressed concerns about the timing of the review, querying the decision to hold the review six months from a general election and the level of community consultation.

Mr Smith explained that the Mount Evelyn community was already being ‘fractured’ in terms of physical planning with a new intersection physically dividing the town and described the change to the ward boundary as ‘an artificial quick fix which could only have a further detrimental effect on the future of the town.’

Mr Smith calculated that 25 per cent of the township’s area would be separatedunder the proposed boundary change and spent time detailing the special attributes of Mount Evelyn, including the unique environmental characteristics and the strong sense of community that had been built up over the past 100 years including the shared links with the Mount Evelyn Primary School which would not be included in the same ward under the proposed boundary change for Billanook Ward.

Mr Smithalso questioned the data used by the VEC and the fact that advertisements were not placed in the Mount Evelyn Mail.

MEEPPA’s preliminary submissions included a suggestion to adjust the northern or north eastern boundaries of Billanook Ward towards Lilydale or towards the Wandin North/Warburton Highway as an acceptable alternative and Mr Smith put forward the case for these alternatives to be re-examined.

Following Mr Smith’s presentation, the panel clarified that the subdivision review was delayed to ensure that the most up-to-date information would be available to inform the decision.

The panel questioned Mr Smith about MEEPPA’s proposed boundary changes in the north of Billanook Ward and asked whether he thought they could potentially divide communities of interest. Mr Smith agreed they would, but believed it was still a preferable option to placing 25 per cent of the Mount Evelyn locality into a different ward.

Findings

The VEC would like to thank Mr Smith for generously giving up his time at the public hearing and was pleased to be able to gain further insight from his presentation. The VEC notes MEEPPA’s concern an advertisement was not placed in the Mount Evelyn Mail. Yarra Ranges Shire Council did advise the VEC that an advertisement should be placed in this publication but it was not. The VEC notes that advertisements were included in The Age and seven other newspapers that circulate within the Shire, including the Lilydale Yarra Valley Leader, Ranges Trader Mail and Yarra Ranges Weekly which cover the Mount Evelyn locality. A news item about the review did appear in the Mount Evelyn Mail on 14 February 2012 and details about the process and how to make submissions and by when were included. Nevertheless, to ensure that all affected voters are aware of the review and have the opportunity to contribute, the VEC is putting forward this addendum report before making its final recommendation to the Minister.

The VEC has taken all the submissions into consideration and, following the public hearing, re-examined the boundaries in the north of Billanook Ward. The main benefit to moving the ward boundary between Billanook and Chandler Wards is toadd electors into Chandler Ward, which currently has the lowest amount of electors in the Shire. The addition of electors into Chandler Ward goes some way to correcting this imbalance.

It is always difficult to contain growth in a single-councillor ward structure and the VEC notes that there are already a number of localities within the Yarra Ranges Shire Council that are split between wards.

It is important to stress that ward boundaries are drawn primarily to ensure that the number of electors represented by each councillor is roughly similar (within 10 per cent of the average number of electors represented by all councillors). The ward boundaries do not affect the locality boundaries and have no physical affect on the composition of the Mount Evelyn township. It does mean that some residents of Mount Evelyn will be represented by a different councillor, but this ensures that they receive the fair and equitable representation they are entitled to under the legislation.

Nevertheless, the VEC was persuaded by MEEPPA’s submission, and Mr Smith’s presentation, that Mount Evelyn was a unique community of interest with a shared history that includes the Joy Avenue Kindergarten, Melba Centre and Mount Evelyn Primary School. In recognition of this strong sense of community identity, the VEC tried again to find a solution that would minimise the impact on this community.

Taking on board MEEPPA’s concerns as much as possible within the constraints of the legislation, the VEC is now able to propose a more minimal change that would use McKillop Road and Monbulk Road as a boundary. This enables the Melba Centre and the Mount Evelyn Primary School to remain in Billanook Ward and minimises the division of Mount Evelyn. The boundary would affect 291 electors who would be represented by the councillor for Chandler Ward from the next election. This change isbeing put to the public for further comment.