Golden Plains Shire democracy enters new era

Sneak peek inside the just completed council chambers at Golden Plains Civic Centre

IT wasn’t the grand opening that had been planned for the new council chambers, but the space has been pressed into action.

With restrictions on movement and public gatherings, the decision was made to begin using the recently completed Golden Plains Civic Centre for council meetings starting in May.

Originally the plan was to hold a public celebration of the building that’s been designed with the whole Shire in mind.

“I’ve spoken to many people in the community that are really looking forward to coming in and seeing space, particularly the historical side of things and what’s been incorporated into it,” said mayor Cr Owen Sharkey.

When members of the public can finally join councillors in the chamber, following the action should be easier with microphones and big screens displaying the agenda items being discussed.

Cr Sharkey said with meetings previously split between the old Bannockburn Shire offices and the Linton customer service centre, the new space was a big change.

“It’s like coming from a one-and-a-half-star hotel into a five-star venue,” he said. “It’s a huge step up for us and it’s going to be quite interesting.

“On the technology side we are going from nothing to state-of-the-art facilities. Meeting procedure is going to significantly change for the better.”

Even though the new chamber and associated civic centre is located in Bannockburn, it’s been designed with the history of the Shire in mind.

Frosted glass panels pay homage to the four municipalities that went into creating Golden Plains in the early 1990s – Bannockburn, Leigh, Buninyong and Grenville shires.

David Greaves, Shire works manager, said incorporating elements of other parts of Golden Plains goes even further.

“When we started to design the building, we wanted it to be a building about Golden Plains Shire, not just a representation of one town,” he said.

The building trusses are a representation of Nimmons Bridge up in the north. It’s been built around trying to honour Nimmons Bridge.”

Along the north-east wall of the chamber are a series of display cases. The internal ones celebrate the Shire’s people with the current exhibition titled Your Story, My Story and the external ones focus on the four municipalities that became Golden Plains.

Curator Kim Biggs, Shire arts and cultural advisor, said that the exhibits and artefacts would change over time.

“Your Story, My Story was really about council reaching out to the community about telling their stories,” she said.

“With up to 52 recognised communities throughout Golden Plains Shire it was our call out. What we got was this lovely, warm, very diverse range of objects that really speaks to concept of the sum of us.

“The items that face outwards relate to the civic collection. Two cabinets are on the civic history which is quite rich because it encompasses the four shires. There’s things that speaks to council now and the roles and jobs within council.”

The Golden Plains Civic Centre and associated capital works has been a more than five-year, $10 million, three-stage project, designed by Baumgart Clark Architects and built by S J Weir.

Along with new chambers the space includes customer service centre, public meeting rooms, expanded municipal offices and renovation of the existing office space, public toilets, and an 80-kilowatt solar system.