Contract furore forces policy review

CITY of Ballarat councillors have ordered officers to undertake a review of the municipal procurement policy before the end of the year following an uproar over a contract awarded to Pipecon.

The move came during last week’s regular meeting and was backed by mayor Cr Daniel Moloney after members of the community spoke out against a decision to award a $2 million construction contract for works on Tait Street, Sebastopol to the developer.

Pipecon was found guilty of safety breaches that led to the deaths of two workers in Delacombe in 2018, which resulted new state industrial manslaughter laws that were passed two years later.

The company is also currently under investigation for a third death, and Cr Moloney said safety should be a more considered part of the City’s procurement policy.

“This should be a policy review that reflects community sentiment and values that ultimately dictates or directs how council should be spending community money,” he said.

“We’ve placed a great emphasis in the past on local content and good value… but I think the expectation of the community is you consider those values after you’ve gone through a consideration of all safety criteria.”

A rally attended by more than 100 people was held opposite Town Hall in Queen Victoria Square during the meeting and three community members expressed their concerns during public question time.

One of the presenters, Jay Morrison, brought forward a petition with more than 1150 signatures requesting council review the Tait Street tender decision.

“Despite council having multiple avenues under the Local Government Act that were presented to council as options to actually step back… no steps appear to have been taken,” Mr Morrison said.

“The families of those workers feel very flogged off by council officers as a result.”

In response City of Ballarat CEO Evan King said there was “no legal process” available to rescind the tender decision.