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Cardinia Shire Missing Out On Rural FundingLarge parts of the Cardinia Shire are missing out on funding opportunities because the whole of the municipally is classified as metropolitan, according to the Nationals. By Peter Hall - 9th November 2007 - Back to News Eastern Victoria MP, The Nationals’ Peter Hall, said the Shire was missing out on opportunities for better funding arrangements in areas as diverse as roads and kindergartens, despite the fact that most of the Shire was rural in nature.
Following a meeting in Pakenham with the Cardinia Shire Council, Mr Hall has called in Parliament for the Premier to look closely into the issue.
"Cardinia is at the rural-urban interface, and certainly one could argue it is part metropolitan, but I think equally any reasonable person visiting the shire would regard a significant component of it to be rural in its nature," Mr Hall said. "Yet for the purpose of a good number of government funding programs it is classified as totally metropolitan."
Mr Hall said the Council itself made a good argument that about 30 per cent of the shire could be classified as metropolitan, that is the growth corridor which extends largely along the Princes Highway as far as Pakenham.
"But that the other 70 per cent is rural. For example, if you look at places like Bunyip, Nar Nar Goon, Cockatoo, Longwarry and Koo Wee Rup, it is clear that they are very much rural in their nature," Mr Hall added.
A major disadvantage of this is in regard to road funding.
"As a metropolitan municipality it has to compete with the large metropolitan municipalities and compete against major Melbourne arterial roads for funding, and therefore it does not do as well out of road funding.
"Because it is (classified) a metropolitan shire, it is required to contribute funds on a one-to-one basis for project funding from the Regional Infrastructure Development Fund, whereas if it were classified as a rural municipality, that ratio would be two parts government contribution and one part local council contribution."
Kindergarten funding is another major issue for the shire, Mr Hall said.
"There are a number of kindergartens in the shire that are now in jeopardy of being classified as metropolitan and of receiving far less funding. The kindergartens in Longwarry and Koo Wee Rup in particular this year have had to go through a fight to obtain sufficient funding to enable them to continue to run a program. They are not big places, and they are not big kindergartens with big numbers."
Mr Hall concluded that the answer is to redefine the urban growth boundary so it just takes in part of the municipality and not the whole of it, so that it can access rural programs for those areas that are truly rural.
"I ask the Premier to look closely into this matter and to consider those views."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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