When Corangamite residents vote in the Council election in October, they will elect one Councillor from each of seven Wards.
The seven Wards are named Cooriemungle, Gnotuk, Lake Elingamite, Lake Keilambete, Leura, Mt Elephant and Tandarook.
Local Government Minister Melissa Horne this week announced the old five ward structure would be replaced in line with recommendation of the Victoria Electoral Commission.
The biggest change is the former Central Ward being divided into:
- Lake Keilambete Ward, comprising Terang and Noorat;
- Gnotuk Ward reaching to the middle of Camperdown; and
- Leura Ward from Central Camperdown to the east.
A slightly enlarged North Ward will be known as Mt Elephant Ward.
South-West Ward will remain largely unchanged but will be Lake Elingamite Ward.
Coastal Ward, renamed Cooriemungle, will take a small amount of territory from South Central, which will be called Tandarook.
The recommendations were based on an independent review that considered issues such as:
- the representation needs of specific communities;
- public submissions;
- nature and complexity of services council provides;
- geographic size and topography of the area;
- forecast population and voter growth or decline; and
- social diversity.
Corangamite Shire Mayor Kate Makin said the last review of Corangamite Shire was in 2015.
“The old mix of four Wards with one councillor each, but three in the more populous Central Ward, is no longer allowed under the new Local Government Act,” Cr Makin said.
“Council made a submission to the review advocating for a Ward structure rather than an unsubdivided Council.
“Because there is so much ground to cover in our big Shire, Wards mean residents will still have a local representative who understands what is important to them.
“While they can talk to any Councillor, there will still be a local face they can easily contact and talk to one-on-one.”
The Mayor thanked all of the community members who got involved in the review process.
“There was a lot of feedback from the community to Council and 14 members of the public made formal submissions alongside the one from Council.
“It’s great to see people taking an active role in how the Shire is governed.
“The subdivided structure has worked well for the Shire in the past and while this is slightly different, particularly with Camperdown, Council has always worked together for the good of the wider community.”
