Ratepayers revolt Anger at $2m stings

Alex de Vos
Outraged residents are forming community action groups to fight Surf Coast Shire’s plans to sting ratepayers for new footpaths and stormwater drains.
Jan Juc’s Steve Burton, who is leading a push against plans to impose a special charge for new footpaths, said the shire’s “dictatorial approach” had left him “annoyed and irritated”.
“We’re not against footpaths but we weren’t aware of the costs involved,” Mr Burton said.
“We shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the footpath – it should be paid for out of general rates.”
Mr Burton said he had received “at least” 100 complaints, following a call in last week’s Independent and other newspapers urging unhappy residents to join his fight against council’s footpath plan.
“The shire has done very little for residents considering how much we pay in rates.
“At the moment we’re trying to organise a group to take action – it’s an ongoing issue and it’s going to build momentum over time.”
In his letter to the Independent last week Mr Burton slammed the shire’s new $40 million civic precinct and council’s “inability to rein in spending”.
“Perhaps if the shire was to shed some of the highly paid minions occupying the existing offices we might then see the provision of useless services diminish and with it the need to build Surf Coast’s equivalent to the Taj Mahal,” he said.
Meanwhile, residents of a residential acreage estate on Torquay’s western fringe are fighting a shire’s plan to slug them almost $1 million to fix stormwater problems.
About 40 to 50 Ocean Acres residents converged in the development’s playground on Sunday afternoon to discuss the shire’s proposal.
A Surf Coast Shire report said upgrading the estate’s stormwater drainage system would cost more than $900,000.
An Ocean Acres resident who attended the meeting said the property owners present agreed to contribute $100 each to a legal fund for advice on fighting the proposed stormwater charges.
The estate of around 116 allotments was developed without a stormwater system, with expectations that average site coverage from buildings such as homes and sheds would leave enough land to soak up rain. However, building coverage has exceeded expectations, leading to problems with stormwater run-off.