LODDON Shire ward boundaries will be redrawn after a population jump in Inglewood and Bridgewater.
The ward now has an enrolment outside the 10 per cent variation allowed between the shire’s five electoral areas.
A date has not been set for the review but it will be done before next year’s October general election.
A Victorian Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “The ward boundary reviews aim to ensure all wards within a local council have approximately equal numbers of voters.”
They said enrolments in each ward last month were: Boort 1187, Inglewood 1325, Tarnagulla 1027, Terrick 1202 and Wedderburn 1082.
It will be the first time boundaries of existing single-councillor wards have come under the microscope since 2011. The VEC said Loddon was one of 10 councils to have ward reviews on top of another 39 councils that do not meet changes to the Local Government Act in 2020 requiring rural council ward boundaries are unsubdivided, multi-councillor wards with equal number of councillors or single-councillor wards.
The VEC on Monday confirmed the Loddon review had been initiated after Local Government Minister Melissa Horne last month told council of the need to redraw boundaries.
“The reviews are conducted by an independent electoral representation advisory panel. This panel is an independent body appointed by the Minister for Local Government to advise on the most suitable electoral structure for councils that need to be reviewed,” a spokesperson said.
“Although the VEC provides administrative and technical support to the panel it is not responsible for conducting the reviews or appointing the panel members.”
However, a Government spokesman said on Tuesday: “There is no panel. Ward boundary reviews are undertaken by the VEC.”
Last year’s Census showed that Loddon Shire’s population had increased for the first time in 20 years to 7729 with town growth highest in Boort and along the Calder corridor.