Honouring veterans with a final resting place is a key commitment under the Borough of Queenscliffe’s draft budget.
The borough decided to open its Draft 2025-26 Budget and Draft Revenue and Rating Plan, featuring a three per cent rate increase, during its Wednesday, April 30, council meeting.
Council also decided during its meeting to allocate $17,000 within the draft budget to the Headstone Project, which looks to locate veterans lying in unmarked graves and provide them a final resting place.
Councillor Isabelle Tolhurst said the allocated funds would be contributed to about 50 per cent of the remaining headstones expected to be completed at Queenscliff – Point Lonsdale Cemetery.
“That includes adding concrete plinths and bronze plaques commemorating the soldiers who served during or before World War One, and this is a pilot project in Victoria,” she said.
“This is a really exciting opportunity to again put Queenscliff on the map for a great project that celebrates our military history and fallen soldiers who’ve, to date, gone unrecognised.”
The borough will also commit $100,000 to Hesse Street activation initiatives and $30,000 to a Wayfinding Signage Strategy alongside other proposed projects within the draft budget.
Cr Tolhurst said the draft budget outlined resources needed to deliver a wide range of council services provided to the community over the year.
“There’s healthy capital expenditure, a focus on improving caravan parks and recreation facilities, and increasing solar on council buildings,” she said.
“(The draft budget) is evidence that our little borough can and does manage its finances soundly and sustainably, while delivering outcomes and responding to community need.”
The borough would maintain a debt-free balance sheet with no outstanding or new loans included within the budget, with a forecasted breakeven underlying result.
The budget also found that fair market values of properties across the borough declined by 7.1 per cent, except for commercial properties, which increased by 2.4 per cent.
Community members can share feedback on the draft budget by writing to info@queenscliffe.vic.gov.au until 4pm on May 22.
