Fireworks moved to NYE despite confusion – City of Ballarat council meeting briefs

AT the City of Ballarat’s first ordinary council meeting of the year, a majority of councillors voted to move the municipal fireworks display to New Years Eve.

The resolution only stated that the display should be moved to New Years Eve and did not include details about the where the event will be located, it’s times or safety considerations.

Cr Daniel Moloney voted for the recommendation and said the current display during Summer Sundays wasn’t working.

“It just doesn’t really make much sense, it doesn’t seem to gel very well with the music event earlier in the day,” he said.

“It’s really struggled I guess to make sense to local people on a day that’s not necessarily significant.”

Cr Amy Johnson disagreed and said the motion was poor, lacking details about the specifics of the event including security concerns.

“This is a very poor motion,” she said. “It shouldn’t have come to this council meeting.

“We have many people in our community who may potentially not do the right thing.

“Police resources will be significantly stretched because people have parties on New Years Eve.”

Mayor Des Hudson said deciding on a date was important to ensure pyrotechnicians would be available to put on the event.

“Unless there is a direction around the date the operator who will be engaged to do the event would be booked elsewhere,” he said.

Stance on conflict

A notice of motion led by Cr Belinda Coates, which called for the mayor to advocate to the Federal Government about an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the middle east, was supported by a majority of councillors.

The motion also noted that Ballarat is a diverse city and called for the release of all hostages, the urgent provision of humanitarian aid and a call for all parties to uphold international law.

Cr Coates said that despite the motion being a small action, which may make no impact on the conflict, it was important and did not cost the City of Ballarat any money.

“I think the case for the motion should be very clear, it’s just about humanity and our position as leaders,” she said.

“That is our job, to represent all of the people, everyone from diverse backgrounds.”

Cr Ben Taylor opposed the motion and said he was not a foreign policy expert and it should be left to the Federal Government.

“The Federal Government is working through a process and I don’t understand it, I’m not a foreign policy expert, I’m a councillor in the City of Ballarat” he said.

“I agree what is happening over there is very emotional… but this is local government.”

Cr Coates said that part of council’s role is to advocate to the State and Federal government, as would be the case with this motion, and that this doesn’t need to take focus away from local issues.

“We regularly advocate to State and Federal government on a really broad range of issues and the Australian Local Government Association has consistently defended councils and local governments right to advocate for their diverse communities on a wide range of issues,” she said.

“We can still be as equally focused on everything we need to be focused on, roads, infrastructure, services, but advocating for our community is an important part of our role.”

Cr Daniel Moloney agreed and said that councillors should not be able to pick and choose which international issues they focus on.

“We in the City of Ballarat have a positive history in the international legacy space,” he said.

“We’re a sister city of Inagawa and have relationships in China.

“We don’t just get to pick and choose the international things we want to be a part of because they feel good.”

More funds needed for mall

A further $4.7 million will be required to finish construction at the Bridge Mall after a 150-year-old bridge was discovered in a poorer state than expected.

Cr Hudson said that while City of Ballarat staff knew the bridge was there, they were not expecting it to be in such bad condition.

“There’s always that balance of we try to make sure costs are kept to as minimal as possible, so we have capacity and scope to do other projects,” he said.

“That obviously comes at a cost on some of those bigger ones where issues have been identified.”

Power pushback

Councillors agreed to continue advocating to the State Government on behalf of residents fighting against the construction of a substation by Powecor at York Street.

Resident, Annette Smith, ensured their fight was not forgotten, asking councillors what more could be done during the meeting’s question time.

Cr Hudson said he had met with Member for Eureka, Michaela Settle, and Powercor staff and found the representatives of the electricity provider to be disingenuous.

“We were probably a little bit appalled by the lack of respect shown by the Powercor spokesperson and his disengagement with residents,” he said.

“The member for Eureka also felt exactly the same about body language, lack of engagement, lack of empathy, it was pretty appalling.”

Cr Hudson will now write to Premier Jacinta Allen about the issue.

Alfredton Community Hub officially named

The Alfredton Community Hub on Donegal Drive will now be named Djila-tjarru Community Hub following a recommendation supported by all councillors.

The name means place of play and has been approved by the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.

Cr Moloney said the community has been supportive of the name.

“It’s really taken off in the community and I think people have generally been really welcoming and supportive of it,” he said.