Ash Bolt
Residents in Belmont will be split across two electorates and represented by different MPs in state parliament depending on which side of High Street they live from next year’s state election.
Victoria’s Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC) last week released its new state electoral boundaries, which included major changes to the boundaries of the Geelong and South Barwon electorates.
Around 2500 residents living in the west of Belmont, in a patch bordered by High St, Roslyn Road, Roberts Road and Reynolds Road, will be moved from the Geelong electorate to South Barwon.
In its report, the EBC said significant changes were required to South Barwon’s borders due to the increasing population in Armstrong Creek.
Under the ‘one vote, one value’ principle, each of the state’s 88 electorates have to have roughly similar enrolments, but Armstrong Creek’s growth had meant South Barwon contained almost 25 per cent more voters than it should.
The balance the enrolments, Torquay and its surrounding towns were moved to the Polwarth electorate despite opposition from residents.
“The EBC modelled alternative boundaries retaining Torquay in South Barwon District and found that they would not be ideal, as they would require wholesale changes to all the districts in the Geelong area, cutting across communities of interest,” the report said.
In return, South Barwon gained the section of Belmont from Geelong, after the EBC decided against moving Barwon Heads into the electorate.
The Geelong electorate will grow in size, with it gaining Moolap in the east from Bellarine and its north-west boundary stretching to now include Fyansford, Bannockburn and other smaller nearby towns, which were previously part of the Polwarth electorate.
Apart from losing Moolap, the Bellarine electorate will remain the same, while there has also been no change to the Lara electorate.
The changes will come into effect at the next state election, which is due to be held in November next year.
The EBC was required to review electoral boundaries under law as there had been two state elections since the last redivision.
The EBC had released its proposed boundaries in June, and received 127 written submissions in response, but just one from a local submission about the Geelong region electorates.
