Today we received our Valuer General land valuation report. Shock horror, as our Council rates are pegged by these valuation reports. Surprised to find our land in Bayside supposedly has more value than the recent sales of a double building block. Our land is the size of that allowing a granny flat to be built.
Sadly, 25 years ago this was not allowable, just a single family home. We set ourselves up for raising our three children and for our older age. [There were] struggles with chronic ill health and, well… now the unrealistic valuation has sent us into shock. I of course phoned my local real estate who agreed this valuation is unrealistic. I went online to register my opposition to the new valuation and found the website complicated and as such phoned for help. I was told I needed to push the ‘activation key’. Then it asks for you to do a comparison of sales in your area prior to July 2022. I then found that the program to insert the price sold was unable to take a comma in typing ‘price sold’ of equivalent sales of similar properties. I rang again and was told that unfortunately there are many calls to the government centre and someone will ring me back. Waiting, waiting, waiting, of course!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
