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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s times or safety considerations.<\/p>\n
Cr Daniel Moloney voted for the recommendation and said the current display during Summer Sundays wasn’t working.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just doesn\u2019t really make much sense, it doesn\u2019t seem to gel very well with the music event earlier in the day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really struggled I guess to make sense to local people on a day that\u2019s not necessarily significant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Amy Johnson disagreed and said the motion was poor, lacking details about the specifics of the event including security concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very poor motion,\u201d she said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have come to this council meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have many people in our community who may potentially not do the right thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice resources will be significantly stretched because people have parties on New Years Eve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Des Hudson said deciding on a date was important to ensure pyrotechnicians would be available to put on the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless there is a direction around the date the operator who will be engaged to do the event would be booked elsewhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Stance on conflict<\/STRONG><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the case for the motion should be very clear, it\u2019s just about humanity and our position as leaders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is our job, to represent all of the people, everyone from diverse backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Ben Taylor opposed the motion and said he was not a foreign policy expert and it should be left to the Federal Government.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Federal Government is working through a process and I don\u2019t understand it, I\u2019m not a foreign policy expert, I\u2019m a councillor in the City of Ballarat\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree what is happening over there is very emotional\u2026 but this is local government.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Coates said that part of council\u2019s role is to advocate to the State and Federal government, as would be the case with this motion, and that this doesn\u2019t need to take focus away from local issues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Daniel Moloney agreed and said that councillors should not be able to pick and choose which international issues they focus on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe in the City of Ballarat have a positive history in the international legacy space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a sister city of Inagawa and have relationships in China.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t just get to pick and choose the international things we want to be a part of because they feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n \n More funds needed for mall<\/STRONG><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat obviously comes at a cost on some of those bigger ones where issues have been identified.\u201d<\/p>\n \n