THERE has been strong support in another north-west Victorian council for a decision to abolish wards, a system about to be implemented for Mildura Council.
A review adopted by the Victorian Government decided to move to an unsubdivided in Gannawarra Shire, which includes Kerang and Cohuna, at council elections later this year.
It follows the same move being made in 2020 for Swan Hill Council.
The government decided “rural councils” such as Gannawarra and Swan Hill were permitted to have one of three possible electoral structures, including with wards and without.
Mildura, however, was classified as a “regional city”, and its Electoral Representation Advisory Panel review could only look at single-councillor ward structures.
It was determined Mildura would move to nine single-councillor wards later this year.
The Gannawarra review, approved by Local Government Minister Melissa Horne, recommended seven councillors without wards.
Gannawarra Shire councillor Jane Ogden said the unsubdivided structure would encourage shire-wide perspective on council business.
“When I ran for council in 2020, I did so because my heart was for our whole Gannawarra Shire community,” she said.
Cr Ogden said it “made sense” to keep the number of councillors at seven, noting the municipality’s large area.
“All councillors will be able to go out to our communities for meetings and events, which will give them an opportunity as a group, to hear what’s going on and what’s needed across the whole shire,” she said.
Fellow councillor Travis Collier said he was supportive of no wards.
“This would also give candidates that have supporters in other areas of the shire other than their current ward the opportunity to have them vote for them,” he said.
Gannawarra Mayor Ross Stanton last week said councillors were elected to represent every resident, irrespective of which ward they resided in.
“I have a strong affiliation with the Murray Ward, but making decisions only based on that ward would see poor decisions and outcomes across Gannawarra,” he said.
The ERAP final report for the municipality noted Cr Garner Smith argued that a subdivided structure would better cater for the shire’s communities of interest and create better accountability in council.
