Elsie Lange
Residents of Hume’s Jacksons Creek ward have raised concerns they will not have adequate representation following the suspension of Trevor Dance as a councillor.
The Jacksons Creek ward councillor was stood down for “serious misconduct” in failing to comply with two lawful directions from an arbiter and has been suspended from office for three months from Friday, April 29.
The ward takes in Sunbury, Bulla, Wildwood, Gladstone Park and Tullamarine.
Sunbury Residents Association (SRA) president Graham Williams said the organisation was worried the town would be underrepresented on key issues.
“SRA has always supported the view that all elected officials need to adhere to the highest standards of conduct of their office and that failure to do so as determined by the responsible authorities will and should result in some form of penalty,” Mr Williams said.
“In the specific case of Cr Dance we are not aware of what range of options may have been available.
“But we are concerned that at a crucial time in the council planning year of budgets and priority setting, that Sunbury will now have only two votes on these matters rather than the usual three – which is already one down on the other wards in Hume,” he said.
Hume’s other wards, Meadow Valley and Aitken, have four representatives each, while Jacksons Creek will now be represented by just two councillors – Jarrod Bell and Jack Medcraft.
Hume council’s draft budget 2022-23, currently open for community comment, will be put up for adoption at a meeting on Monday, June 27 – Mr Dance will be suspended until July 29.
Cr Dance has has vowed to appeal the decision at the Victorian and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT).
Mayor Carly Moore said council understood residents of Sunbury may be troubled about their representation, but that all councillors worked to act for the municipality.
“It is important to remember that as elected representatives of Hume city, all councillors and the mayor are responsible for representing and advocating on behalf of every Hume resident, and will continue to do as such,” Cr Moore said.
Mr Williams said while the SRA understood Mr Dance intends to appeal the outcome, the organisation was keen to see the matter resolved “very quickly and remove further uncertainty about his role”.
“A potentially protracted delay through the VCAT processes does nothing to bring back full local representation in a matter that has already gone on for 12 months already,” Mr Williams said.
