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28 July – 10 August 2011
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Hoping for clean air at nationals BALCOMBE Grammar School’s aerobics team “Balcombe Spirit” is training hard for the national championships in Launceston, Tasmania, next month. The team won its way through to the nationals via events in Geelong in May and the state finals in Werribee, where the girls won silver. School Aerobics National Championships have been held for more than 20 years. In Tasmania, the Balcombe girls will compete against teams from around Australia. Sheridan Hull of the school said the girls were excited to be competing in Tasmania. “Their coach Niki Hind of Peninsula Sport Aerobics and Fitness in Baxter is to be congratulated for her amazing effort in achieving fantastic results with the girls,” she said. Silver girls: Balcombe Grammar School’s aerobics team, from left rear, Layla McKinley, Tessa Hull, Vashti Lane and Kate Martin. Front, Sarah Astall, Summer Wilson and Miranda Pidal.
No surprise in rate rise No more than daily coffee costs for high value properties By Mike Hast COUNCILLORS on Monday night approved a rate rise of 6.8 per cent when they signed off on Mornington Peninsula Shire’s almost $150 million budget for 2011-12. Last year’s rise was 6.2 per cent. Defending the increase, Cr David Gibb said the increase meant people in his ward of Rosebud would pay an average $39 extra a year. “The highest value house in Rye of $1.9 million would pay an extra $240 a year, about the cost of a cup of coffee
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each week,” he said. Three councillors voted against the rise, Anne Shaw (Mt Martha area), Frank Martin (Red Hill) and Antonella Celi (Rosebud West). Cr Bev Colomb was absent, but had disagreed with the 6.8 per cent rise when the draft budget was released in late May. The budget and rate rise was approved 7-3. After the meeting, some pro-rate rise councillors told The News the anti-rise councillors were grandstanding for the media. “They may have voted against
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the rise, but they are quite happy to take the money for projects in their wards,” one said. During debate at the meeting in Rye Civic Hall, several councillors said they did not want to put rates up, but costs of running the shire had gone up. “People from Melbourne who have moved permanently to the peninsula expect more,” Cr Lynn Bowden said. “There is more pressure on our rate dollars, but we’ve not wasted those dollars. We have no choice; we have to increase rates.”
Cr Leigh Eustace said water, power and gas companies did not worry about putting up costs. Cr Frank Martin said the 6.8 per cent increase and borrowing $600,000 would enable shire debt to be reduced by $3.75 million to $35.2 million, but he proposed a 5.8 per cent increase and borrowing $1.5 million. “This would mean we could cut our debt to $36.1 million, just a few hundred thousand more. It would give us much the same result” with less pressure on ratepayers.
The only major change from the draft budget was the addition of $400,000 for sporting pavilions, with $371,000 coming via a windfall from the Grants Commission, which has changed the formula for allocating money to councils. The balance would come from part of the $52,000 budget surplus. CEO Michael Kennedy told councillors he and finance manager Geoff Emberson were looking at ways to inject $1 million into pavilions for the 201213 budget. Continued Page 4
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