Footpath saga drags on

GEELONG Council has again been unable to make a decision on a controversial move to force more than 6000 Ocean Grove households to pay a $477 special charge to fund a network of new footpaths.

Councillors on Tuesday were unable to reach a verdict on a recommendation to declare the Ocean Grove Principal Pedestrian Network Proposed Footpath Construction Special Charge Scheme.

The scheme would charge 6357 Ocean Grove properties a fee of $476.95 to pay for a 24.3km network of new footpaths, with the city forking out the remaining 54 per cent of the $6.5m project.

Councillors on Tuesday were expected to make a decision on whether to adopt the scheme, after deferring a decision in September, but were unable to reach a verdict and once again deferred the agenda item, despite the majority of councillors voicing their opposition to the move.

Deputy Mayor and Bellarine Ward councillor Trent Sullivan noted he did not support the funding model of the scheme, having previously raised concerns with the “considerable tensions” it had caused both in the community and within the council group.

“The community wants these paths, but so many people believe the funding model is unjust by this SRC (Special Rate and Charge scheme),” Mr Sullivan said.

“We have an inherent debt to the people of these communities who have been paying their rates for 40, 50 yearsplus, that if we haven’t collected enough to be able to implement this infrastructure for them to be able to live their basic lives … then I’m not sure what we’re doing.

“I’m behind these trails and I wish we could pay for them fully, but the current policy is against it.”

Mayor Stephanie Asher, also a Bellarine Ward councillor, voiced her opposition to the scheme, noting “the proposed payment model is simply not acceptable to the majority of the community”.

Councillor Sarah Mansfield labelled the scheme “regressive”, but also raised concerns the community would miss out on the much-needed footpaths, or be forced to wait even longer to receive them.

“My disappointment is it means we won’t get muchneeded infrastructure built in that area, potentially for quite some time until we eventually decide on a way to do it,” Ms Mansfield said. “And it may not be to the extent that’s been proposed, and that’s a shame for the community, but I’m not comfortable we found the best answer in terms of the funding scheme on this one.”

A 28-day public engagement process into the footpath project and special charge scheme was launched earlier this year, receiving 298 submissions – with 124 submissions “against” the scheme.

The March feedback period was the third formal engagement process launched by the city into the scheme since 2014.

During the public engagement periods, a majority of respondents supported a funding method where all properties paid an equal share out of provided options – with neither process including an option for a city-only funding model.