Casey lays gas blame

By Bridget Brady and
CASEY council says its unrelenting yet unsuccessful campaign to lobby the State Government for cash is behind this year’s record rate rise.
The council said it had been lobbying the State Government for help in for the past 18 months in the aftermath of the methane gas fiasco.
Deputy mayor Shar Balmes said the council had made numerous approaches to the State Government during that time, including 14 meetings and 18 letters.
But the State Government says the council has failed to negotiate, with Local Government Minister Richard Wynne accusing the council of burdening local ratepayers.
Cr Balmes said she thought it was ‘April fool’s day’ when she heard Mr Wynne’s statement.
“Casey’s ratepayers should not have to shoulder the entire burden of a situation that State Government agencies and organisations helped create,” Cr Balmes said.
“Casey has submitted a comprehensive business case for State Government funding support for the short-term remediation and monitoring costs associated with the landfill. Unfortunately, the government has buried its head in the sand on this matter.”
A government spokesman said that as owner and operator of the landfill, Casey was responsible for the clean-up, and accused the council of playing politics over the mess.
“The City of Casey has made political statements in the media attributing rate increases to the clean-up, but to date has not provided adequate information to the government requesting support in the form of a proper business case,” he said.
“To date information provided by council included a range of political claims and assertions. This suggests council intends to pursue a political agenda rather than seek the best outcome for the community.
“The council’s decision to further burden ratepayers with the establishment of a ‘fighting fund’ to lobby the State Government shows that they would rather make this a political issue than work with government in the best interest of families.”
But Cr Balmes questioned why ratepayers should foot the entire bill when VCAT was responsible for removing the buffer zone between houses and the landfill.
“Our door is open for further discussions. Hopefully, the State Government will face up to its responsibilities and make the $41.9 million contribution so that ratepayers don’t have to carry the full $100 million burden,” Cr Balmes said.