Geoff Helisma | Councillor Debrah Novak has lodged a scathing submission against Clarence Valley Council’s (CVC) special rate variation (SRV) application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). In her wide-ranging 2,000-word submission, Cr Novak highlights CVC’s failure to meet the state government’s Fit for the Future benchmarks – a prime reason CVC is applying for the eight per cent per annum increase in rates, inclusive of any rate pegging, over the next three years. On the SRV application, she writes: “The CVC 8% request is disingenuous at best and misleading at worst and clearly is an attempt to punish ratepayers for council’s own lack of continued financial mismanagement, courage and leadership at a time it was needed the most.” Councillor Novak told the Independent, that she expected her action to draw some flack from her fellow councillors and CVC’s management, however, she said she “was elected by the community to stand up for them”. “It’s my job to work for the community and [the valley’s] future; we all need to step up and call this out,” she said. Councillor Novak’s submission can be accessed here: ipart Debrah Novak