Council tied on anti-global stance

CITY of Ballarat councillors were divided during their regular meeting on Wednesday on whether to look into their stance on non-local issues.

Using Mount Alexander Shire’s Establishing Formal Positions of Council Policy as the template for a later report, Cr Ben Taylor, who introduced the motion, brought it forward on the agenda.

He said the policy was an appropriate basis for the council to stick to their core role.

“This provides the template, it provides the homework that’s already been done,” he said.

“[It’s] really good to see other councils have already done this because of the need they felt to focus on what they need to focus on.

“We are local government. We’re not state government. We’re not federal government. We’re not United Nations.”

Cr Belinda Coates spoke against the motion and said to stifle council in taking stances on global issues would be undemocratic.

“It’s a really blatant attempt to limit the democratic process to limit others using that same democratic process,” she said.

“I also note the irony of discussing this on a night where we’re endorsing the intercultural strategy. Has anyone heard the term ‘everything is local?'”

“There are very global issues that actually make it to the notice of motion.”

With two weeks to draft it, the quality of the future report was also called in to question as was the costings involved in the work to undertake the document and research.

The motion was carried with Crs Taylor, Tracey Hargreaves, and Amy Johnson voting in favour while Crs Coates, Peter Eddy, and Des Hudson voted against.

Crs Daniel Moloney and Mark Harris were in apology.

Trip planned for creative conference.

Ballarat mayor Des Hudson will be flying to Portugal later this year to ensure Ballarat’s continued stance as a UNESCO creative city.

With a council officer in tow, the pair will represent the region during the 15th UNESCO Creative City annual general meeting in early July.

Cr Hudson said it was ideal for the municipality to maintain its UNESCO status.

“We are significantly aligned with UNESCO at the moment,” he said. “In May, leading to Heritage Week, we will be hosting the annual creative cities conference in Ballarat.

“Being part of UNESCO comes with its own responsibility of being able to front up and attend in some of the conferences. The budget is quite modest, around $11,000.

“There is the opportunity for us to potentially bid to host the international UNESCO conference in Australia. In order to do that, we need to attend at least two annual conferences.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Biodiversity

document released

The City of Ballarat’s Draft Biodiversity Strategy is out for public exhibition until Tuesday 23 April following a unanimous decision by councillors.

The document outlines the municipality’s shared community strategy for nurturing the environment and received one submission from Friends of Canadian Corridor’s Jeff Rootes commending the move.

Mr Rootes’ comments were echoed by Cr Coates, who moved the item.

“No surprise to anyone how much I love this work,” she said. “I love everything about it.

“I love the title of the work too, Healing Country Together, it speaks really beautifully to the essence of what biodiversity is.

“I will particularly acknowledge the input and engagement from First Nations, Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander representatives from the Wadawurrung and Djarra, Dja Dja Wurrung as well.”

Intercultural plan implemented

Councillors signed off on an update regarding how their Intercultural Plan 2022/2026 is being put to use.

With the aim of providing a template with which to introduce supportive infrastructure for the region’s multicultural communities, Cr Coates said the plan is tracking well.

“I’m really delighted to note the report and the work undertaken in year one,” she said.

“We are a council in a growing regional city with a global and international outlook. What other proof do we need than this report.

“We’re lucky to have so many intercultural citizens living and working here.”

The update was bolstered by a submission from former Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council chair and member of the municipality’s intercultural advisory committee Frank Williams, who noted more than 30 cultural associations operate in the region.

Slow growth for zone plan

Councillors checked in on the progress regarding the Urban Growth Zone rezoning plan as well as the timeframe on the Growth Areas Framework Plan.

Cr Taylor noted the slow progress of the Infrastructure Growth Alignment Framework or IGAF which will provide a review of the region’s greenfield lands and has been with the Victorian Planning Authority since 2022.

“Where are we at if we’re vastly approaching two years,” he said.

“Sadly, I think nearly every [update’s] been a copy, paste, copy, paste every quarter since we’ve actually started this because it’s now up to other people’s responsibilities. We just have to wait.”

Eureka Centre handling celebrated

The execution of the municipality’s plan to boost visitation at the Eureka Centre was noted as part of their annual report.

Cr Taylor said the document titled 2030: A Vision for the Eureka Centre has provided a solid template through which to bring in attendees to the site.

“It wasn’t that long ago when we looked at the Eureka Centre and wondered what we were to do,” he said.

“What we’ve seen is by making those adjustments, putting a manager in there, and putting a big of focus and budget to it, we can actually see there’s a change and an increase in patronage.”

Visitation during the 2022/2023 financial year was 45 per cent higher than in 2018/2019 with an estimated 46,378 attendees.

The site is on track to see more than 55,000 people in 2023/24.