Ratepayers in growth areas such as Wyndham are in danger of being under-represented by their council unless councillor numbers are increased, a discussion paper warns.
The paper, released last week as part of a state government review of local government elections, raises fears about the ability of growth-area councillors to properly represent ratepayers.
The review will consider the need to increase the maximum number of councillors who can be elected beyond the present limit of 12.
“Some councils are experiencing rapidly increasing populations with very high councillor-voter ratios,” the discussion paper says.
“All are expected to remain high growth in the medium term. This raises concerns over councillor workloads and potential under-representation of voters.”
Wyndham mayor Heather Marcus said councillors had considerable workloads but they were coping.
She said Wyndham’s multi-member wards meant councillors were able to share their workloads, providing diverse representation.
The discussion paper also raises concerns about the use of dummy candidates and more people nominating for elections. There were 46 candidates for 11 positions in the council elections for Wyndham last year. The paper questions if strongly contested elections are an indication that dummy candidates are being used.
Concerns were raised about possible use of dummy candidates in Wyndham, with four candidates relying on preferences to win a place on the council. Among them were Cr Intaj Khan and Cr Gautam Gupta, who were elected despite receiving less than 6 per cent of primary votes in their wards. Both have denied using dummy candidates.
The review panel will hold a public hearing on Friday, October 11, from 4-7.15pm at Brimbank council’s Sunshine offices.
» To attend the hearing, or make a written submission to the review, visit dpcd.vic.gov.au/localgovernment
