Delegates to head to Türkiyé – City of Ballarat council meeting briefs

TWO City of Ballarat delegates will head to Türkiyé later this year to take part in the XV UNESCO Creative City annual general meeting after being given the okay at council’s regular meeting last week.

The trip will involve one councillor and one municipal officer representing Ballarat in Istanbul where they will report on the City’s first four years of UNESCO designation as Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art.

The plan to send a delegation to the event caused significant discussion among councillors with the  cost-of-living a focus, however, ultimately the trip was approved.

“We are always cautious in relation to these types of reports that come into the council chamber because we are always talking about the appropriate use of rate payer money,” said mayor Cr Des Hudson.

“We are very mindful with what we do with every dollar we spend but sometimes when we invest in other areas, we get it back in more value.”

Cr Hudson said it was important delegates attended the meeting as it is a requirement for holding the title of a UNESCO Creative City.

“Part of being involved in the UNESCO Creative City is that it is a requirement to attend the annual general meeting which we don’t have any say over,”’ he said.

Cr Daniel Moloney disagreed and said the trip should not be a priority because there were likely to be few consequences to not attending.

“It seems like a nice to do rather than a must do,” he said.

 

Names get go ahead

The 11 proposed names for roads in the Ballarat Airport precinct were endorsed by councillors.

The names were developed in conjunction with the Ballarat Airport manager, the Ballarat Airport Stakeholder Reference Group, and the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.

They also went through two rounds of community consultation.

“It’s lovely that we are continuing a theme of wanting Aboriginal names,” said Cr Moloney.

While most road names received support from at least 80 per cent of public respondents, some of the negative feedback involved names being too hard to pronounce.

“While some of the names may be hard to say, Wendouree, Buninyong, are all names that are Aboriginal in origin,” said Cr Molony.

“So hopefully this is something that helps improve local understanding.”

 

Runway cost overrun approved

Councillors voted to update the cost of the airport runway extension contract from around $5.5 million to around $7 million.

The extra money is meant to allow for a temporary road to be built which is required for construction of the extended runway.

According to municipal documents, even with the increase in cost, the project remains under budget.

“The contract was structured in a way where we knew there was likely to be some issues with the subsurface,” said City of Ballarat CEO Evan King.

“We made sure there was enough contingency for the worst-case scenario.”

 

Partnership funding gets boost

More than $900,000 in funding for the City Partnerships Program has been finalised.

Twelve organisations will receive the funding for planned projects and programs.

Successful participants include the Ballarat Athletic Club, Ballarat Carols by Candlelight, Royal South Street Society and the Sovereign Hill Museums Association.

“The successful partnerships will provide an enormous benefit to the City of Ballarat and the organisations themselves are all integral in serving the City,” said Cr Hudson.

“We are proud to be able to provide the funding to see them thrive but to also help us deliver our goals that we set out as a council.”

 

Strong stance against substation

Councillors endorsed a statement in which they do not support Powercor’s proposed substation on York Street in Ballarat East.

The statement also stipulates that Powercor should consider alternative locations in the region.

While council is not the decision maker in this instance, this decision to oppose the substation allows the municipality to take an advocacy stance against the proposal.

“I agree with the many legitimate concerns raised by residents in that area because the substation located on this site would likely reduce property value and there would be ongoing noise,” said Cr Amy Johnson.

“We know that there are alternative locations where this substation could be located, and I strongly encourage Powercor to consider these.”

 

Sister city agreement renewed

Ballarat’s sister city agreement with Inagawa, Japan will be renewed for a further five years.

The agreement has been running for 35 years and aims to encourage awareness of each city’s culture.

“This is a significant milestone of our sister city agreement for some 35 years,” said Cr Hudson. “There are significant projects such as out investment in the Japanese speaking competition with our schools.

“It helps to see a world beyond Ballarat and Australia.”