Is the Hepburn Shire Council doing the bidding of the state government in a sort of puppet master – puppet relationship?

I never thought I’d become a conspiracy theorist, but it’s not much of a stretch to go from an inquisitive mind who sees beyond the rhetoric and probably pays too much attention to a full-blown, capsicum spray recipient who marches to the beat of everyone else’s drum.

And although I am firmly not an anti-vaxxer, and certainly believe in what happened in terms of death and destruction during the pandemic, it is not such a long bow to draw for me to say that someone could have possibly been behind the whole disaster. After all, it’s just letting a couple of new bugs out of a bottle and the rest is history.

You must ask yourself who gained from the whole thing? The short answer is that the world was cruising along nicely in 2019. We were in a good space with technology, some of us used it, but most of us could take it or leave it.

And housing prices were not too bad by today’s standards. Fast forward to 2024, most families will be yoked to the banks for the rest of their natural lives, paying out overblown mortgages and we all are well familiar with technology and most of us rely on it for our daily lives.

When you figure out the answers as to what changed, then who benefited is not too much of a stretch. Banks and technology companies who now account for the top one per cent of the hugely wealthy. But that is just a little too deep for me, so getting back to the puppet master, the state government of Victoria.

It is no secret the whole show is almost broke. Probably because of the pandemic as well as organising huge infrastructure contractors, cancelling them and paying them out large sums of money for not lifting a finger. A classic misuse of the public purse.

So how does a government get out of a red hot financial mess – and with a housing crisis happening and being predicted to be a sort of a tsunami on the economic horizon?

You would have to bring in some smart cookies to figure this mess out. Some special bureaucrats from the “men in black branch” of the government who sit around in think tanks and plot sneaky shit all day long.

Please remember this is just my theory and don’t take it to the bank, but it does seem to stack up when I passed it by the mayor the other day during an interview.

The first move: On July 1 last year the “windfall gains tax” got passed into state legislation. This tax applies to land which is subject to government rezoning resulting in a taxable value uplift to the land of more than $100,000.

In short, if you were a local farmer tending your land and the local council came along and rezoned it, normally you would be up for a huge pay day. But the state government has ensured that the poor farmer, if they sell or leave the land vacant, gets the absolute shit taxed out of him which returns to the state.

The second move: Slip the puppet onto the master’s hand (local councils). In November last year the local government areas were asked to start compiling some land to chop up for future development, this is currently what you see in the form of “Future Hepburn”.

This will ultimately result in windfall gains tax, forcing the farmers to sell to developers and line the pockets of the government. The timing is too slick to be coincidental and I don’t believe for one moment it is in the best interests of our community.

But it is not our local council’s fault. They are simply doing the government’s bidding and I believe this particular issue goes way, way up the food chain and is well beyond our control locally.

My two cents worth, rant over…

The potential rezoning of farm land to residential in East Street, Daylesford, as part of the Future Hepburn draft plans, has raised the ire of many residents in the region, along with the farming family who owns 14 hectares of the land.

Farmer Ned Powell said it was a shock for his family to discover the move on the draft plan for Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. Mr Powell said his family bought the farm in 1921 and had continuously farmed the property. And he says, despite the potential for profit, they were completely opposed to the idea of rezoning.

Mr Powell, whose social media post is reprinted with permission, right, also has concerns that his rates could go up if the land was rezoned and it could also be subject to the state government’s windfall gains tax, introduced last year.

Hepburn Shire Council Development executive director Ron Torres acknowledged Mr Powell had monetary concerns but said no calculations had been carried out on any possible increased rates or state taxes.

“The reason is because whatever strategic planning we do across the shire, and there will be potential monetary impacts, those factors are not considerations under the planning framework. I know that sounds shocking but the planning framework expressly requires planners not to factor in changes to land value and rates.”

Mr Torres said housing growth was going to occur in Daylesford and while most people would prefer it within the existing township boundaries, there was also a need for new, more diverse houses for the next 30 years “and that is what East Street is doing”.

Mayor Cr Brian Hood said the council was aware many in the community believed the deadline for input into the town structure plans, June 12, and to be passed at the August council meeting, was too soon for such important planning framework.

“I think through all of the publicity people knew this was coming and we have been saying for ages we are working on these high level plans to set the direction for planning and growth controls,” Cr Hood said.

“But there are 70 pages for each town, plus the rural strategy and there is a lot of technical detail here and it is bloody important stuff, long term planning for 25 to 30 years. So I don’t blame (people) if they are wondering ‘what does this do to my property?’ or ‘what does it mean my neighbour can do?’. We are working through this six-week (consultation) period and will see where we get to.

“We always aimed at getting it through this term, and it is pencilled in for August, then we meet in September (before doing into caretaker mode) and then we are done.

“But we have to get this right and getting it right is more important than timing. It is pleasing and encouraging the amount of engagement across the shire and great that people are raising their concerns and questions and we are genuinely there to listen and what people’s concerns are, so we can get this right.”

Mr Torres said there was also a push from the state government on councils to see every council “carry its weight in future growth” with potential housing targets on the horizon. “It is imperative to have our plan locked in, our own community vision.”

Mr Torres said another area, the end of Jamieson Street, was also looked at for more housing but was not considered because it was considered too steep and exposed to heightened bushfire risk from the north.

Since its start four years ago, Future Hepburn has cost about $1.3 million. Community sessions will be held at Newlyn on May 22, Trentham on May 24, Hepburn Springs and Glenlyon on May 25, and Clunes and Daylesford on June 1.

Community feedback closes on June 12. Link: www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/future-hepburn

Words: Donna Kelly