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Baw Baw Shire councillors are “absolutely furious” with the State Government for again refusing to come to the party to provide funding for key infrastructure to cope with rapid population growth, particularly in Warragul and Drouin.
A vocal mayor Danny Goss told The Gazette that the shire had been “neglected, disenfranchised and ignored” after council, elected less than a month ago, took a unanimous stand at a regular briefing meeting last Wednesday.
He said the nine councillors are as one in their anger with a lack of consideration by the Labor State Government in “thrusting growth out of Melbourne onto Baw Baw Shire but not backing it up with infrastructure”.
“This is clearly because the government regards the electorate of Narracan as safe Liberal”.
Cr Goss pointed to the 40 per cent of the electorate that voted Labor at the last election.
“They are missing out, too”. Major traff ic issues in Warragul and Drouin and between the two towns and educational and recreational facilities head council’s needs.
Council had lobbied for $3 million for development of a plan to solve the traffic problems but got nothing, the mayor stated.
While Cr Goss welcomed the budget’s confirmation of $12.26 million for stage two of a major upgrade at Warragul Regional College that was previously announced, he said other schools in the shire were under considerable pressure because of population growth.
“A significant share of growing enrolments at Trafalgar High School are coming from the Latrobe Valley, and numbers of students at Drouin West and South primary schools are growing substantially because of the lack of a second primary school in Drouin”.
But Cr Goss said the Education Department has not been prepared to talk to us (council) about its plans for the next 10 years.
Early education and recreation facilities were also lagging behind need, he said, with government assistance only coming after competitive application processes through various departments and, if eventually successful, shire ratepayers are usually left to pick up the majority of costs.
Cr Goss claimed the failure to get a government contribution - $500,000 – towards the $3 million cost of a proposed synthetic soccer pitch in Warragul was also due to politics.
The money Baw Baw was seeking went to Wonthaggi in a marginal Labor seat, he said.
Baw Baw is the sixth fastest growing municipality in the state but is missing out on the support it warrants from the government, Cr Goss said.
When the rate of growth is outstripping the government capped rate of municipal rate increases the gap between residents’ needs and expectations gets wider all of the time, he added.
Upper House government Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said she would continue to support Baw Baw Council, as she said she had done in the past, on its strategic planning objectives.
Hopes of a commitment to build a new West Gippsland Hospital and an easing of financial pressures on Baw Baw Shire Council as it struggles to meet the demands of rapid growth were dashed in last week’s state budget.
Major local projects the budget confirmed were the previously announced next stage of redevelopment of Warragul Regional College and a minimum of $35 million for affordable and social housing in Baw Baw Shire.
Government Upper House Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said she was “delighted with what the budget would provide for Gippsland” while acknowledging there was still more to do.
She said the government “had worked really hard” to bring down a budget that included new infrastructure for the region as well as support to rebuild after last summer’s bushfires at the COVID-19 epidemic.
It will provide jobs, kick start regional economies and reduce household bills, Ms Shing said.
For businesses there were incentives and subsidies for those in a position to rehire staff stood down or on reduced hours due to the impacts on them of the pandemic and an advancement, to next January 1, of a 50 per cent reduction in stamp duty paid on the purchase of commercial and industrial properties in regional areas.
Agriculture will benefit from a $65 million new agricultural strategy aimed at improving infrastructure and new technology to connect farmers with new markets and a $59 million boost to facilities at agricultural colleges.
Bushfire risk and ongoing recovery support after last summer’s devastating fires in the east and north-east of the state will be strongly funded.
Almost 1450 kilometres of fuel breaks across the state will be built or upgraded and Bushfire Recovery Victoria will receive $124 million over the next four years.
Support for Gippsland tourism that took a big hit this year from bushfires and COVID travel restrictions will see some major new developments.
An estimated $6.7 million will be spent on upgrades at Mallacoota Inlet and Point Hicks lighthouse in the far east of the region and Wilson’s Promontory, in the south, will get major new facilities under a $465 Victorian Tourism Recovery package.
At Wilsons Promontory $23 million will be spent on a new park and ride network, accommodation and facilities.
The Latrobe Valley Authority, established to help workers transition from coalfired power stations to other industry, has been further funded to the extent of $125 million.
Gippsland, notably Latrobe City and Baw Baw and Wellington Shires, also will be one of six Renewable Energy Zones across the state costing a total of $1.6 billion.
Ms Shing said funding would be focused on supporting investment, industry participants and jobs in new energy technologies and linking them to the transmission grid. “Gippsland will be front and centre in this,” she said.
Ms Shing said planning and site preparation relating to upgrades of the Gippsland rail network were continuing including for the duplication of the Longwarry to Bunyip section and second platforms at both stations.