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A New Classification for the Mornington Peninsula?                       Addressing Economic Disadvantage

The Committee for Mornington Peninsula welcomes the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s move to investigate a possible reclassification of the Mornington Peninsula from the current metropolitan designation.

We welcome the Council’s attention to this issue to enable a collaborative solution to ultimately address the Peninsula’s economic disadvantage, which the Committee has focused on since 2019.

Mornington Peninsula residents and businesses face all the challenges of a regional community, with none of the regionally specific support services. Our municipality is disadvantaged by failed metropolitan service standards whilst being blocked from access to government funding for regional areas and being subjected to higher tax rates than regional areas that share common issues to the Peninsula.

As a result of our ‘metropolitan’ classification, the Peninsula cannot access government support for regional communities, including the following examples:

Victorian Government Programs

  • Twice the First Home Owner Grant incentive amount for regional first home owners
  • Living away from home allowance for regional university students relocating for study
  • Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund

Federal Government Programs

  • Mobile Black Spot Program
  • COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund
  • Regional work visas and working holiday maker visa program

Whilst being barred regionally specific support services, the Mornington Peninsula is also taxed by the Victorian Government at a higher rate for being part of Metropolitan Melbourne, although we do not benefit from many metropolitan-standard services. Some examples of higher state taxes for metropolitan Melbourne include:

  • Higher rate of payroll tax compared with regional employers
  • Higher rate of stamp duty for commercial and industrial land purchases
  • Metropolitan Planning Levy imposed on permit applications

 The CfMP is presently seeking to understand whether becoming regional would present a net positive benefit for the Mornington Peninsula than our current designation. We look forward to working with the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council on this process.

Enduring Green Wedge Protections

The CfMP disagrees with recent suggestions in local media (MP News, 2 August), that if the Mornington Peninsula Shire were “officially regarded as regional, it would lose the protection of green wedge planning restrictions.”

Rezoning green wedge land or altering or removing planning controls for subdivision of green wedge land requires the approval of both Houses of the Victorian Parliament under the Planning and Environment (Metropolitan Green Wedge Protection) Act 2003.

The CfMP is committed to protecting the integrity of the Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge Zone whilst addressing the economic disadvantage the Mornington Peninsula faces.

We are currently in the process of consulting with stakeholders and commissioning independent research to understand how existing provisions in the Metropolitan Green Wedge Protection Act would protect the Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge, should the Mornington Peninsula be reclassified to become regional.

The CfMP wants to maintain this high level of protection of the Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge Zone, should the evidence suggest that our municipality would benefit from becoming regional.

Should there be a net positive benefit for the Mornington Peninsula in becoming regional, whilst maintaining the integrity of our green wedge protections, then we will ask the State Government to consider a reclassification of our municipality to reflect its characteristics and needs.

 

 

Media contact

Briony Hutton
CfMP Executive Officer
0468 308 696