HE can’t play favourites, but Buloke Shire Mayor Daryl Warren wouldn’t choose to anyway.
He speaks highly of every township in a shire abutted by a pink salt lake to the north and a namesake lake to the south.
Cr Warren is familiar with water having lived and worked through flooding rains, and it’s a challenge he highlighted after being elected unopposed as mayor for another 12 months.
“The latest information we had this week was about weather conditions and to expect a wetter summer,” he said.
“We know, certainly in Buloke, along the rivers there are challenges that wet summers bring.”
In his second term on council, Cr Warren said he was “humbled” that fellow councillors put faith in him to lead.
In his first term on council, Cr Alan Getley was elected as Deputy Mayor, also for a one-year term.
Cr Getley defeated Crs David Pollard and Bronwyn Simpson for the position.
“It’s an interesting gig,” Cr Warren said.
“It’s a lot more than just being a councillor – you are on tap 24 hours, seven days a week and don’t know what is going to happen next.
“You have that input at the highest level and, of course, conscious of the fact you are representing the community when strutting the stage.
“In fact, you are also the main advocate for councillors in dealing with staff and other government bodies and organisations.
“It’s a pretty onerous job from that point of view.”
Cr Warren said he appreciated the endorsement from the wider community.
“As Mayor, you get around the whole shire,” he said.
“Some may only stay to their ward, but I represent people from Nandaly to Donald and everywhere in between.
“You can’t play favourites, you treat all with respect and do your best for all of them.”
There were challenges and opportunities in the next 12 months, Cr Warren said, not least post-COVID.
“In terms of guidance, we set out the council plan in motion when elected last year,” he said.
“That four-year plan is essentially the business plan – how we operate and the projects we do.
“The challenges are wide and varied, so coming out of COVID presents different challenges as opposed to when in COVID.
“While it’s great to have our freedoms back, there are challenges because we hadn’t had any positive cases until a few weeks ago.
“All of a sudden cases spike up, but that was expected as the state opened up, people travelled and brought the virus to us.”
Cr Warren said diversifying the economy – not solely reliant on agriculture – was also critical.
“Lake Tyrrell certainly is our centrepiece, the showcase, but out of that we have seen street projects, waterfront developments in Donald, significant grant applications for accommodation and caravan parks around our lakes,” he said.
“When thinking about the COVID situation, the biggest thing in the next 12 months will be reactivating the community events we haven’t had for two years.
“We have the big Esoteric Festival at Donald that’s been on hold.
“That attracts 6000 people for the Labour Day long weekend so we will be looking at the input that has into our shire.”
Cr Warren said it was also the “simple things that make all the difference”.
“Just the amount of caravans travelling through the shire at the moment.
“We need to present the shire well, making sure the toilets are all clean.”
Asked about council’s core responsibility of roads, rates and rubbish, Cr Warren said it was a “perennial” challenge.
“We do collect and impose high rate burdens from the fact we have a small rate base and need money to come in to undertake even the basic of services,” he said.
“But with that comes how we support the significant ratepayers … 70 per cent of rates come from the farming community so we need to support them.
“We look at the differentials with the rating strategy, but right across the board there has been huge increases in property values.
“You see some prices attached for farming land and that translates into how we collect rates.
“Our rates are based on the value of the property, so if your property goes up we don’t have to do anything, you’re doing it for us.
“It’s a difficult one and there are, I know, lots of people trying to find better systems for rates.
“It’s lot of talk, but not a lot of action.”
Cr Warren said he was keeping watch on the Member for Mildura, Ali Cupper, with her rating system campaign.
“To use the analogy, property owners in Buloke pay as much rates as a property in Stonnington,” he said.
“It’s based on the million-dollar scenario.
“What does that property owner get in Stonnington compared to Buloke – we get the basic services.
“They can do so much more because of the critical numbers.
“When you spread the burden further you give and take.”
Cr Warren said Buloke raked in $14 million in rates.
“That just covers the staff wages, it’s a big gap,” he admitted.
“We get grants, yes, but look at the metro councils taking in $180 million in rates.
“They have the capacity to do more stuff … it’s interesting stuff.”
Council was also “beavering” away at the process to recruit a permanent chief executive following the resignation of respected leader Anthony Judd.
“It’s a similar view to this analogy that this is like Millionaire Hot Seat,” Cr Warren said.
“We make sure that the candidate who sits in that seat is the right person because we give them $1 million over five years.
“We will take our time to make sure they answer all our questions and is suitable to Buloke.
“There is no rush … it’s best to measure twice and cut once.”
Unity and harmony at the council table were also highly regarded at Buloke.
“Buloke has a very long, stable history,” the Mayor said.
“It’s like families; you don’t see the discussion behind closed doors.
“For some families it’s out there in the street to be seen, whereas other families settle their differences behind closed doors.
“I think we have a very good, harmonious working relationship.
“That’s not to say everyone agrees all the time.
“When we have seven individuals, all elected from different communities, of course we have different opinions.
“But the beauty of it is, we look at it as local government used to be known for – no party politics, although some are driven by egos at councils elsewhere.”
Cr Warren said generally people were on council because they had a “genuine concern and love for community and wanted to see the right thing done by them”.
“I’m not stupid to realise we don’t have our disagreements, but like the saying, ‘What happens on the footy trip, stays on the footy trip’.”
“You don’t have to run around and have 34,000 pages of governance rules if you have respect.
“If you muck up, you say you muck up, that’s the base of any good, working relationship.”
