Call for rates restraint

PEOPLE should not be charged with excessive rates on the basis that they are wealthy and can pay, according to the Save the Casey Foothills Association.
Association secretary Rosalie Counsell put this view in response to a claim by Casey Rates Review Committee member Frank Brunda and Four Oaks Ward councillor Rob Wilson that the review committee report was a cash grab.
Mrs Counsell said that because the whole community benefited by having rural and semirural countryside on its urban doorstep, it was logical and reasonable that the whole community should contribute to its maintenance, at least to some degree.
She said that for the area to be sustainable, those who lived on the fringe had to be able to afford not only the rates but also all the other financial or physical burdens that went with looking after a larger property.
“They certainly should not be rated out.
“The same principles apply to heritage properties whose owners also have to contend with substantial constraints and costly maintenance,” she said.
Mrs Counsell said that under the Casey system, not only are the green wedge areas getting very little extra support and indeed little by way of services and infrastructure for their rates, but their 1800 landowners are actually subsidising the provision of these amenities in the new development areas.
“Is that fair?” she said.
“Even if someone can afford to pay the current prices for nonurban properties, is that an excuse to hit them with a totally disproportionate share of the rates revenue?
“Although complete justice is no doubt unachievable, that is where we should always be aiming.
“It is important that councils review their rating system from time to time, especially during periods of rapid change, to ensure that it as fair and reasonable as possible to all parties.
“Because of the steep increase in nonurban land values, Casey’s current rating system of ‘one size fits all’ has become completely out of balance and is far from equitable.
“The State Government created the green wedge legislation, not for the sake of those who now happen to live in the fringe areas of Melbourne, but for the benefit of the wider community, both present and future.
“It is not a new idea.
“The need to protect our important, easily accessible countryside has been on the drawing board since the 1940s and was first formalised by the Hamer Liberal Government in 1971.
“One landowner with 100 acres said he was paying $10,000 a year in rates and this equates to $100,000 per decade?
“Is this a reasonable burden?
“Is it fair that people have to sell up and move?
“The less affluent, long time residents, some of whom may have been in the area for generations, are part of our cultural history.
“They have a sense of loyalty and commitment to the community that simply dies if they are forced to sell and a new generation of nouveau riche moves in,” she said.