QUESTION time at last week’s City of Ballarat ordinary council meeting was filled with concern from residents and councillors about issues at White Flat Oval.<\/p>\n
Rough sleepers have been using the oval and grandstand, with residents and members of local sporting clubs voicing concern about anti-social behaviour and alleged illegal activities.<\/p>\n
Young resident Mia, who plays football at the oval, was present at the meeting and spoke about her experiences of feeling uncomfortable training at night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are feeling pretty scared to just go to footy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Municipal Director of development and growth Natalie Robertson urged residents to call 000 if needs be as this is the mechanism the City of Ballarat is legally required to use to deal with the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of the challenges at White Flat and we appreciate the frustration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is really important for me to reiterate regardless that if you do witness illegal activity or anti-social behaviour you should call 000 every time because that is the process for us legally to enact legislation that allows us to put things in action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Ben Taylor said he was concerned by the situation and that it is unfair to put the responsibility onto residents to contact the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting it back onto the community that every time they see something the response has to be made, if that\u2019s got to be every day, why can\u2019t the relevant authority, responsible authority, actually act?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Director Robertson replied this was not something she could discuss publicly, but that Victoria Police have stepped up surveillance of the area.<\/p>\n
Cr Daniel Moloney questioned why fencing the grandstand was not an option and CEO Evan King responded saying this did not work last time the City of Ballarat took that approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose at the moment the process has been trying to find accommodation for the people that are there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people there are both living in the grandstand but also living in tents outside the grandstand so you could fence off the grandstand but that doesn\u2019t actually mean that people who are rough sleeping there won\u2019t continue to camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a risk last time of people living underneath the grandstand and fires going with a great risk to the grandstand of burning down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although no decisions about the oval were made, councillors will be provided with updates on the situation.<\/p>\n
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Call on ceremony delayed<\/strong><\/p>\n A majority of councillors voted against a motion made by Cr Belinda Coates to move the Australia Day citizenship ceremony to different day within a three-day period of before or after 26 January.<\/p>\n Cr Coates said the move was a small request which is in line with the City of Ballarat\u2019s reconciliation action plan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should be incredibly straightforward considering we\u2019ve made the biggest adjustments already and even the Federal Government have recognised that it\u2019s not a big deal to have a citizenship ceremony on another day than January 26,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n According to the City of Ballarat website, six citizenship ceremonies were held this year with participants unable to choose the date of their event.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are actually weighing up with this decision is the value of a small number of people having a citizenship day on January 26, which they don\u2019t actually know they are going to get at this point in time\u2026 and the longstanding hurt of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,\u201d said Cr Coates.<\/p>\n Crs Moloney, Mark Harris and Peter Eddy supported the motion with Cr Harris saying it is important to celebrate Australia but not on January 26.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to acknowledge a national day, it\u2019s just on the wrong one,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do better and this is the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Cr Des Hudson as well as Crs Taylor, Belinda Hargreaves, Samantha McIntosh and Amy Johnson all voted against the motion meaning it was lost.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that we have been compromising on many things we hold on this day over a number of years,\u201d said Cr Hudson.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople can choose to turn up or people can choose not to turn up if they wish.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Johnson suggested it may be better to have both a ceremony on Australia Day and one within three days before or after to please everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven there still seems to be such strong support for celebrating Australia Day on the 26th of January it would be wonderful to have the opportunity for those who would like to become citizens on Australia Day to do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Despite the motion being lost, a report is set to be requested at the next council meeting calling for consultation and engagement on the future activities and events of 26 January.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Public toilet strategy approved<\/strong><\/p>\n The public toilet strategy 2023, which seeks to guide the future of such facilities in the City, was endorsed by all councillors.<\/p>\n The strategy stipulates that the region will have high quality, inclusive and accessible public toilets.<\/p>\n Two rounds of consultation with stakeholders and the community were conducted including direct feedback from 741 people.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the complexity of the issue, the officers did take on board a range of feedback,\u201d said Cr Moloney. \u201cThere was a lot of diverse people to consider.\u201d<\/p>\n The strategy recommends that three new public toilets be built in Little Bridge Street, at the south-western corner of Lake Wendouree and at De Soza Park in Buninyong.<\/p>\n During question time a range of residents\u2019 concerns with the strategy were heard, including how it will be determined what the \u2018male\u2019 and \u2018female\u2019 signage means.<\/p>\n Cr Hargreaves said that those aspects are complicated and may need to play out over time.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to reiterate that this is more of an infrastructure issue more than anything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n