VEC Preliminary Submission - Achieving a cohesive Maroondah community

Published by Alex Makin on Tuesday 4th of March, 2008

Given that Maroondah City Council has failed to reflect the community’s views in its submission to the Victorian Electoral Commission I have authored my own individual submission recommending multi-member wards, as supported by the community.

It is unfortunate that some councillors in Maroondah have chosen to disregard the community’s view and decided to put their own self interests above the needs of the municipality. The City of Maroondah, with its current single-member wards, has divided our community with suburbs such as Ringwood being separated into differing wards. Likewise, the divisions between Ringwood and Croydon, a situation perpetuated by the current ward boundaries, has prevented a cohesive and united Maroondah.

A restructure of Maroondah so that it consists of three council wards electing three councillors each would remove the arbitrary divisions that currently exist within Maroondah. Three wards would ensure easily identifiable ward boundaries and would combine broad communities of interest leading to a higher standard of representation and community involvement.

The proposed structure outlined in my submission would lead to stronger governance and a higher standard of representation within the City of Maroondah and would be consistent with the VEC’s approach to nearby municipalities that share similar populations to Maroondah. Lastly, this structure would be robust enough to maintain its relevancy over the next eight years and beyond.

The VEC’s preliminary review aims to propose preferred options for Maroondah and is due on the 1st of April. Following this report there will be a round of further community consultation and submissions including a public hearing.