No gates for play space – City of Greater Bendigo council briefs

CITY of Greater Bendigo councillors decided not to support a motion to construct child-proof gates at Strathdale Park Play Space during their regular meeting on Monday, 24 October.

The motion was carried after council received a community petition with more than 90 signatories asking for the installation.

Cr Matthew Evans spoke against the installation, and said although childproof gates weren’t required, child safety is an ongoing concern.

“The play space currently meets Victorian standards and there are no Australian standards to go beyond that,” he said.

“That said, the petition does actually highlight a very important issue and that is child safety and being vigilant.

“It is worth noting the vast majority of parents… [in Bendigo] are incredibly vigilant of their families.”

Cr Greg Penna supported the petition and asked the councillors “what value do we put on the wellbeing and life of a child?”

“The request to have these child-proof gates installed… in my opinion, is a responsible and common-sense request. It’s achievable and low-cost and… has to be seriously considered,” he said.

Councillors chose not to support the petition with only Cr Penna voting in favour of it.

 

Electoral structure review

Councillors debated the pros and cons of their electoral structure following an impending review by the recently-established Electoral Representation Advisory Panels earlier this month.

The City of Greater Bendigo is one of 39 Victorian municipalities whose structures aren’t compliant with the Local Government Act 2020.

Regional city councils are required to have single-member ward structures while the municipality currently operates as a multi-member structure.

The City of Greater Bendigo previously consisted of a single-member ward structure, and Cr Margaret O’Rourke was against the readoption of it.

“Is this the best approach and should we be given a choice? We are actually two municipalities… over 3000 square kilometres,” she said.

“[Rural councils] get to choose [between three structural options]. Why don’t we get to have that choice?

“Let’s at least have that opportunity, write to the minister and hopefully the panel will have a further discussion.”

Following reviews by the panel, a recommendation is set to be made on the city’s electorate structure in anticipation of the 2024 local government elections.

 

Groups get grants

Council endorsed the allocation of more than $320,000 in Large Grants funding amongst 18 applicants.

The cash is set to be given to community groups and neighbourhood houses for various workshops and engagement programs.

Cr David Fagg said he was “glad to support” the organisations although it highlighted a lack of State Government support.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that several of these organisations are partially funded by the Victorian State,” he said.

“It should not be the place of council to subsidise this work even though I do that gladly.”

 

Annual report analysed

The City of Greater Bendigo’s annual report was brought to councillors which mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said allowed them to reflect on their perseverance during the pandemic.

“It is amazing how quickly time marches on, and aside from the fact completing an annual report is a requirement of council, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on what was achieved,” she said.

“The past few years have felt very repetitive but the City of Greater Bendigo has continued to deliver services and drive the economic rebound as we adjusted to living with COVID-19.”

Highlighted efforts during the second half of 2021 included the construction of a $7 million hub at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens and the more-than $3 million development of Ewing Park.

Cr Metcalf also credited the Elvis: Direct from Graceland exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery as giving the local economy “the post-COVID kickstart it needed.”

Cr Rod Fyfe said, “it goes to show what a vibrant city we are despite COVID.”

 

New member for risk audit plan

A new member has been appointed to the municipality’s risk audit committee leading up to the implantation of their Strategic Internal Audit Plan 2023/26

Tony Ridley, an enterprise resilience and security risk management executive has been appointed to the role for an initial period of three years.

The program is aimed at ensuring the municipality is maintaining a degree of effectiveness and good governance.

Cr Fagg applauded the plan and said it’s “good we’re being transparent about the internal processes of the board that this committee reviews.”

“Council is a large organisation, a large bureaucracy. There’s lots of processes, some of which are mostly invisible but are actually quite influential in our operations.

“It’s right that we have this forward-thinking view on how to audit those, how to review them, and make sure they’re doing the job we need them to do.”