“A weird time”: Hepburn Shire only has two councillors left, so how can it get anything done?

One of only two councillors left standing in Hepburn Shire, Tim Drylie finds himself existing in an unsettling limbo.

“It’s a weird time,” he told the Brolga.

It wasn’t so long ago Hepburn Shire had seven councillors. But in the wake of a private criminal prosecution launched by local businessman David Penman against five councillors and the CEO Bradley Thomas, Drylie and Brian Hood have been left stranded.

Thomas has resigned from his job, but remains in the role until August.

Not enough: Two out of seven councillors is two short of a quorum for the monthly meeting, meaning the pair cannot bring motions or debate council business.

“Our main role is within the chamber, meetings and other special meetings. That’s all stopped,” Drylie said.

The matters that would be on the council agenda for the next meeting, due on July 28, will now start to pile up. 

While the passing of the budget means council staff can get on with the bread and butter issues of local government - rubbish collection, road and footpath repairs, oval and park maintenance, library services, rate payments - anything that requires the approval of elected councillors has ground to a halt.

“We’re having ongoing conversations with officers on ongoing matters, but not in a decision-making capacity,” Drylie said. 

Penman, from Daylesford, has clashed with council previously over decisions related to his business, but says his beef with Hepburn Shire is solely about the council’s 2026/27 budget. 

“Recently Hepburn adopted its budget and when it did so it didn't have the complete financial statements in front of it,” Penman told ABC Radio on Wednesday. 

In the red: “More information was prepared shortly after that … and what was a marginal budget became a reasonably ugly budget. Forecast surpluses became losses, so not minor paperwork errors.”

Penman believes councillors voted on the budget “before they knew the true financial position and that means now ratepayers are carrying the risk”.

This, he said, led him to use a little-known legal technique to launch private criminal action against the five councillors - including Mayor Tony Clark - who voted in favour of the budget. 

This manoeuvre required the councillors to stand down, despite none of Penman’s allegations having been tested or investigated.

“I don't see private prosecutions as an erosion of democracy, I see them as the last line of defence in democracy,” Penman told the ABC. “I didn't write the law, parliament did. They opened the door, I just walked through it.”

Can we stop this?: Victoria’s state government is considering amendments that could stop future litigants from following in Penman’s footsteps.  

Drylie said under previous laws councillors had been protected from such prosecutions, and that the state government “really underestimated the impact of someone taking out multiple claims”.

As the legal process plays out, Drylie said he was “quite concerned for councillors that have been suspended; it's really unfortunate, especially because of the loss of income. [A] heavy toll”.

He claimed “community sentiment has been quite profoundly in support of council and councillors, a real sense of loss of protections for local democracy”.

What next? Hepburn Shire claims Mr Penman has “disrupted democracy”, and backed the legality of its budget adoption process. 

“Council is limited in what it can say publicly about these charges since they are before the courts,” it said in a statement. 

“Council can say that it is bitterly disappointed with the impact that this individual’s actions are having on our community and its right to be represented by its democratically elected representatives.”