A union at the centre of a fight against the Sunbury secession project is confident the Andrews state government will grant its request for a compulsory new vote.
Australian Services Union (ASU) secretary Richard Duffy said he believed the push for a Sunbury council was being led by no more than 20 people bent on ‘‘personal power and prestige’’. Mr Duffy said the government was finally aware the process had been rushed, was unsustainable and represented a ‘‘serious risk’’ to the community.
But Sunbury Residents Association president Bernie O’Farrell accused the union of using scare tactics and said he remained hopeful the new council would come into existence on July 1 this year.
Hume council wrote to Premier Dan Andrews after the November state election asking for a review of the previous government’s decision to charge Hume $35 million over 10 years to underwrite the new municipality.
Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins has since had several meetings with the ASU and the council about the secession project.
The union, which represents council employees, claimed Sunbury’s population would need to triple for a new municipality to be financially viable, and it warned that residents could face big rate rises and cuts to services.
Mr Duffy said there was too much uncertainty when the previous, non-compulsory vote which eventually led to the separation was held.
‘‘The proposal is now much clearer. It’s just not sustainable and I think the residents of Sunbury are realising that.’’
Mr Duffy said about 2000 people had signed the union petition, which calls on the government to call a new vote.
‘‘We’ve had a success rate of about 90 per cent,’’ he said. ‘‘The tide is finally turning.’’
Supporters of a stand-alone Sunbury maintain the new council would have a growing rates base that would already be significantly larger than many other Victorian municipalities.
Mr O’Farrell said 4050 hectares of land were earmarked for development and an independent panel report found that rates would not rise more than 5.5 per cent a year.
He said the former government had responded to a 20-year, resident-led campaign for an independent Sunbury, and claims that a noisy minority was behind the push were rubbish.
‘‘Thousands of people voted overwhelmingly in favour of separation.’’
Ms Hutchins would not be drawn on a timeframe for the review but said it would not be rushed.
‘‘The Liberal government ignored serious issues with the viability of this proposal,’’ she said. ‘‘These still need to be resolved.’’
