Council pushes ahead with calls for more cash for local government

BASS Coast Council has endorsed a raft of submissions to the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) State Council, including an amended motion on financial viability.

At its March meeting, the council endorsed four motions to ensure councils are better supported to meet growing community needs.

Bass Coast Shire said councils are experiencing increasing financial pressure driven by rising construction and infrastructure costs, environmental compliance requirements, natural disasters and the need to plan for climate adaptation.

Bass Coast Shire Mayor Cr Rochelle Halstead explained that councils play a critical role in delivering essential infrastructure and services and need the right settings in place to continue to meet community expectations.

“Local government is responsible for a significant proportion of the infrastructure and services our communities rely on every day, from roads and public spaces to community facilities and local services,” said Cr Halstead.

“We are seeing increasing cost pressures across the board, and it is important that funding frameworks better reflect those realities.”

The motion to be submitted to the MAV calls for structural relief for councils facing sustained cost pressures, particularly in areas such as environmental compliance, responding to natural disasters, and delivering climate adaptation works.

“Councils are on the frontline of many of these challenges, particularly in coastal and regional areas like Bass Coast,” Cr Halstead said.

“Ensuring councils have the capacity to respond is not just a local issue; it requires support and reform at other levels of government.”

In addition to financial sustainability, Bass Coast Shire has endorsed motions relating to emergency services funding and regional public transport, and planning reforms calling for greater transparency, consultation and community engagement.

Bass Coast Shire Council is calling on the state government to meaningfully engage with councils and communities when making planning decisions that have lasting impacts.

A key example highlighted by Bass Coast Shire was the fourth leg of the Cape Woolamai roundabout linked to the redevelopment of the Vietnam Veterans Museum.

While supporting the development, the Vietnam Veterans Museum council said a range of amendments to the permit have been made with little to no consultation with the council or the community and no right of review.

Bass Coast Mayor, Cr Rochelle Halstead, said the situation highlighted serious concerns around the current planning framework.

“Our community should get the opportunity to have a say.”

Council claimed the planning changes could see the fourth leg of the roundabout constructed years ahead of the eventual museum. An earlier application to construct a fourth leg to the roundabout received by Council in 2018 was withdrawn by the applicants after the relevant road authority did not support the proposal.

“Whilst Council supports the development of the museum, the amendments to the permit, completed behind closed doors with no consultation, are likely to result in a road to nowhere,” Cr Halstead said.

“This is about more than one project; it is about ensuring planning decisions that shape our towns are transparent, accountable and made with the community, not for them.”

Council is seeking stronger requirements for consultation, clearer accountability mechanisms, and a planning system that respects the role of local government and the voices of local communities.