By Deanne Jeffers
IN A significant restructuring move, the State Government has unveiled the names of the nine wards to be established within the City of Greater Shepparton.
Under the restructure, Greater Shepparton will still have nine councillors, but has been divided into nine ‘wards’ of approximately 6,500 residents, and each ward will elect just one councillor.
Local Government Minister Melissa Horne announced the upcoming changes on February 15, having accepted the recommendation of the Electoral Representation Advisory Panels (ERAPS). The Minister said that these new electoral representation arrangements will ensure councils are more reflective of the communities they represent.
“The Electoral Representation Advisory Panels have delivered thorough work over an extensive period to ensure that Victorian councils will be set up to effectively represent their communities,” Ms Horne said.
“These new ward boundaries will be in place for the local government elections this year – an important step in our work to reform local government and meet the expectations of communities right across Victoria.”
Greater Shepparton is currently an unsubdivided council with nine councillors each representing the whole municipality. Under the changes, however, the council will have nine wards with one councillor representing each ward.
Those nine wards will be called Balaclava, Goulburn River, Kialla, Lower Goulburn, McEwen, Midland, Pine Lodge, Poplar and Yanha Gurtji.
Shepparton itself will be split into five wards: McEwen and Balaclava wards capturing the northern suburbs of Shepparton, Poplar capturing the east, Kialla the south, and Yanha Gurtji the city centre.
The remaining four wards aim to keep rural communities together in each ward as much as possible. That sees the communities of Tatura and Merrigum and surrounding agricultural land captured in the Midland Ward.
Similarly, Pine Lodge Ward in the north-east of the council area includes the towns of Congupna, Tallygaroopna, Katandra West, and Dookie using the boundaries of the Goulburn and Broken Rivers. To include enough voters in the ward, though, the outskirts of Shepparton North have been added to the Pine Lodge Ward.
Mooroopna has been separated across two wards, using the Midland Hwy as an identifiable boundary.
Goulburn River Ward encapsulates the area of Mooroopna south of the Midland Hwy, extending into the southern rural areas of the council area, including the towns of Murchison and Toolamba.
Lower Goulburn Ward takes in the area of Mooroopna north of the Midland Hwy and includes the council’s northern rural area between the Goulburn River and the Echuca and Minchin Roads.
Initially established under the Local Government Act 2020, the change in legislation has seen extensive work and engagement from ERAPS over the past 15 months to ensure councils become compliant with new requirements under the Act.
The panels’ reviews have been completed with time to allow for candidates and the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) to implement the necessary planning ahead of the general elections which will be held in October 2024.
The structure amendment will require 30 councils change to a single-member ward structure, except in those cases where ERAPs have recommended the council have uniform multi-member wards or an unsubdivided structure.
Four councils will change to a multi-member ward structure: Buloke council, Northern Grampians council, Surf Coast council and Yarriambiack council.
A further five councils will change to an unsubdivided structure: Campaspe council, Gannawarra council, Hepburn council, Moorabool council and Strathbogie council.
