Heart attack

By Paul Pickering
A PROPOSED ward restructure for the City of Knox threatens to rip the heart out of Ferntree Gully, says Dobson Ward councillor Karin Orpen.
Cr Orpen is leading a chorus of objection to the recommendations of a Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) review of the municipality.
The VEC has released its preliminary report on Knox’s electoral structure, suggesting that the current nine-ward system be revamped.
The report asserts that Knox residents would be more fairly represented by three larger wards, with each consisting of three councillors.
In this preferred structure, the Ferntree Gully foothills region would be dissected by a ward boundary running along Burwood Highway and Glenfern Road.
In the only other alternative offered by the VEC, constituents of the current Dobson Ward residing north of Doysal Avenue and Olivebank Road would be rezoned into Chandler Ward – effectively severing the area known as Ferntree Gully Village in two.
The VEC’s stated rationale behind shifting Dobson Ward’s northern boundary is to maintain an acceptable number of constituents in comparison to other wards.
Both proposals have raised the ire of Ferntree Gully community stalwarts who fear that the identity of the foothills will be compromised.
Cr Orpen, who is the longest serving member of Knox City Council, drew on past experience to suggest that Ferntree Gully villagers would not stand for such a division.
“They’ve been through a lot and they know how to fight,” she proclaimed in council chambers on Tuesday, 8 May.
“Now it’s suggested that their town gets a rip through the heart and they will not cop that.”
John Silcot, president of the Friends of Ferntree Gully Village group, says he is baffled by the VEC’s arbitrary recommendations.
“The VEC wishes to divide Ferntree Gully over two wards for the sake of its own electoral review to comply with its own statistical requirements,” he said.
“It would be a dagger to the heart of Ferntree Gully Village if half its population is redistributed to another ward.”
Ray Peace, president of Knox Historical Society, said he was equally concerned about the effect such a division would have on the historical heart of the City of Knox.
In his own personal submission to the VEC, Mr Peace notes that the revised boundary would exclude key elements of the village, including Ferntree Gully North Primary School and the Ambleside homestead.
VEC spokesman Chris Gibbin said that objectors to the preliminary report would have the opportunity to speak at the public hearing on Thursday, 17 May, beginning at 7.30pm at Knox Civic Centre.
While Mr Gibbin said that it is possible that alterations could be made to the proposals, he noted that it would be unlikely that the current ward structure would be retained.