A trio of Strzelecki Ward candidates tackled the tricky question of how South Gippsland Shire Council might achieve cost savings following this month’s elections.
During an online Meet the Candidates session hosted by Deb Leonard, who will run as a candidate in the next Federal election, former councillor Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks highlighted the challenges faced by council due to issues such as rate capping.
Acknowledging services will need to be cut, he asked the candidates where they would suggest these cuts be made.
Nathan Hersey, who has served as mayor and deputy mayor during his first term as a councillor, said council has already begun taking steps to achieve savings, providing the example of putting caravan parks out to tender for private operators to run instead of council.
Looking at removing council responsibility for State Parks is another way savings might be made.
Nathan also broached the issue of council’s substantial building portfolio, numbering over 400, some of which are used rarely or not at all, saying the number needs to be reduced in consultation with community.
Swimming pools are a cost area he believes needs to be assessed.
“I’ve never seen another municipality that has so many public swimming pools,” he said, putting the cost to the rate payer at $80 for each visit to the pool, describing that as “outrageous”.
Nathan was emphatic about where savings shouldn’t be made, such as funding for roads and footpaths.
While acknowledging the need for savings, he emphasised the importance of ongoing advocacy to higher levels of government to achieve greater funding support.
Current councillor and candidate Jenni Keerie responded by saying it would be necessary to seek community feedback on what services are identified as essential.
“When it comes to cutting services, that would be a very difficult thing to do without consultation,” she said.
Jenni noted the need to determine whether compatible services are provided by other levels of government.
“Looking at some of the homecare services, we haven’t been able to continue those because there have been other agencies able to pick that up,” she said by way of example from her first term as a councillor.
She also referred to a recent staff restructure at council designed to achieve greater efficiency.
Candidate Jim Forbes, who has previous experience as a councillor, identified the Community Leadership Program as something that could be cut to achieve savings.
“There are at least 25 other leadership programs on offer in Victoria that people could choose to do,” he said.
He identified issues such as roads, footpaths, and playgrounds as the kind of core services council provides that are frequently raised in community surveys, appearing to suggest those are areas in which cuts shouldn’t be made.
Jim stressed the importance of councillors being in touch with their community to understand people's priorities.
Strzelecki Ward candidate Bron Beach was unable to take part in the session due to a dental emergency, with John Kennedy also invited.
