ABOUT 60 angry rural ratepayers confronted Tuesday night’s Collie Shire Council meeting, causing a major disruption.
The meeting was adjourned for 20 minutes in order for chief executive Jason Whiteaker to address their concerns regarding proposed changes to local rates.
Councillor John Bird said the adjournment was out of the ordinary.
“I’ve never seen a meeting adjourned in nine years,” he said.
The residents were concerned about a proposal to assess the rating valuation methods of rural land, and presented a petition to council.
The land in question includes Allanson, Worsley, Collie Burn and Cardiff.
The review will look at whether properties identified in these areas should be rated residential, where ratings are determined by the gross rental value (GRV).
Currently the unimproved value (UV) rating is used to determine rates.
Mr Whiteaker said the rating review had identified about 210 properties currently rated as unimproved value, which were now being considered to be changed to a gross rental valuation.
“This decision will be made by council after the public consultation and, once council has its position, any changes will need to be endorsed by the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development,” he said.
In an address to council a group spokesperson said the rural residents strongly objected to any proposal which would see GRV rates applied to properties outside the Collie township.
“Currently rural ratepayers do without much of the infrastructures that are enjoyed by those in town such as sealed roads, street lighting, local parks and storm drainage,” they said.
“We have accepted this reduced level of service by council in the belief it was tolerable due to paying lower rates. Surely in all fairness, council would not expect us to pay a premium rate while supplying a reduced rate service.”
In their submission to council, the residents asked for a public meeting to be held to allow those affected by the proposed changes to speak directly to council and staff. The public meeting was agreed to and will be held at a date yet to be confirmed.
The motion before council was for potentially affected property owners to be sent individual letters and local public notice of the council’s intention to apply for a change in rating methods, allow a 30-day period for comment from those affected, along with an opportunity for ratepayers to prove that the main use of their land was rural, present a further report to council after the 30-day period and reviewing objections, develop a rating policy through its policy review committee and hold a public meeting for council to hear ratepayers’ concerns. The motion was passed, eight votes to three.
Cr Ian Miffling spoke against the motion because he felt those affected should be addressed on the issue before further parts of the motion were acted upon, such as sending letters.
The council report stated the rating restructure was not a revenue raising exercise.
“It is not an exercise in sourcing additional income from ratepayers, moreover an exercise in ensuring fairness and equity between ratepayers with similar sized and located properties,” it read.
“The council has a responsibility to ensure that the rates are levied on the fairest basis possible.”
Mr Whiteaker said there appeared to be some confusion about this issue and the proposed Town Planning Scheme, and clarified the two issues were not linked at all.
“There were a number of issues raised with regards to the Town Planning Scheme at last night’s meeting which council is taking onboard,” he said yesterday.
“Further to this, a public presentation will be made in the future in an attempt to explain the proposed scheme, which will hopefully assist people in making their submissions.”
Mr Whiteaker said the proposed Town Planning Scheme was currently in its public comment period (a three-month public comment period is required by statute).
After the public comment period had finished, he said council would assess all comments and make a determination on the content of the scheme, which would be presented to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure for final endorsement.
“The Shire of Collie is currently operating under a Town Planning Scheme which was adopted in 1972 – this is limiting the development potential and future planning of Collie,” Mr Whiteaker said.
“Town Planning Schemes are required to be reviewed every four years by law, and as such it has been a significant focus of the Shire of Collie over the past two years to ensure a scheme is developed and adopted as soon as possible.
“The Shire of Collie encourages people to read the proposed Town Planning Scheme and make a submission if they desire.”