Meetings to continue in Linton – Golden Plains Shire council meeting briefs

AT the last Golden Plains Shire council meeting of 2023, much of the focus was on where meetings will be held heading into the new year.

The recommendation presented by council officers was to have five meetings held at The Well at Smythesdale and six meetings at the Golden Plains Civic Centre in Bannockburn, meaning there would no longer be meetings at Linton.

However, it was ultimately decided unanimously by councillors that there should be one meeting held at Linton on Tuesday 26 March.

Cr Helena Kirby was a strong advocate for keeping meetings at Linton, initially suggesting there should be two meetings a year in the town, however, this motion failed.

“I’m just concerned that if we lose Linton as a community facility, and it being a historical building, that we’re going to lose something that’s extremely valuable and important,” she said.

“I do respect heritage and that’s what I’m all about, preserving the heritage.”

Cr Kirby said that if council wants to stop meetings at Linton all together, community consultation should be conducted.

“We have not gone out to do community consultation regarding not being at Linton, this is going around the table as what we think, but we have not consulted with the community,” she said.

Cr Owen Sharkey initially spoke against having meetings at Linton, citing the fact that it is difficult to run a video live stream to the internet, or for councillors to join the meeting virtually, and that good infrastructure is located only 14 kilometres away at Smythesdale.

“We have committed to Smythesdale, this council has made the decision to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in further land purchases around the Well,” he said.

“To the people of the Shire we are saying that the Well is the location into the future.

“I would be against spending 50, 60, 70 thousand dollars just so we can hold two meetings there [in Linton] a year so they can be livestreamed.”

At the last meeting held at Linton, Cr Clayton Whitfield, who was fulfilling carer duties, was unable to join the meeting virtually due to the lack of IT infrastructure.

Advice provided to councillors has indicated that getting the technology up to standard would be difficult and costly.

“We’re being told over and over again that the expert advice from IT is that the broad bandwidth can’t be done at Linton,” said Cr Sharkey.

Ultimately, Cr Sharkey changed his stance and all councillors voted for the motion of having one meeting in Linton next year.

 

Feedback success

A motion was passed by councillors recognising the success of this year’s community engagement program and indicating what will be done next year.

In 2024, there will be community engagement related to the draft budget conducted in May and two listening posts will occur at Bannockburn and Smythesdale.

All engagement activities will conclude by June before the municipality enters caretaker period for upcoming local government elections.

“Council engagement and council staff engagement has increased in this term and it’s incredibly important to capture community opinions,” said Cr Whitfield.

“It’s also important for the council to keep the community informed of our successes and the challenges that we are dealing with.”

Cr Sharkey disagreed with the idea that the community engagement program had been successful, saying that community participation rates are still low.

“The participation from the public is very small,” he said.

“It’s extremely difficult to support this motion, or particularly option number one here, where we’re actually acknowledging the success of councillor engagement.”

The motion was carried by a majority of councillors, with Crs Les Rowe, Sharkey and Kirby voting against.

 

Netball pavilion gets go ahead

Bowden Corp has been awarded a contact of more than $900,000 to build the Bannockburn Victora Park Netball Pavilion.

The facility will include two player change rooms, two umpire change rooms, a first aid room, office space and dedicated storage space.

“This is a great opportunity for Bannockburn to increase its female participation in netball,” said Cr Kirby.

“The courts and the building can also be used for other activities, so I think this is a great partnership between the State and Federal governments and council.”

 

Building of skate bowl to begin

Another contract was awarded to Independent Concrete Constructions to build a skate bowl in Bannockburn.

The project has a $70,000 shortfall which will be funded from the refurbishment of playgrounds budget.

“Golden Plains Shire has the highest percentage per capita of five to 11-year-olds for an LGA in the state,” said Cr Gavin Gamble.

“Facilities such as this, and bike and skate parks, provide really important gender neutral, no cost, unstructured recreation.”

While Cr Sharkey supported the motion, he said that it was important to recognise Bannockburn residents are getting more infrastructure than the rest of the Shire.

“We have to acknowledge at some stage that Bannockburn residents are getting far more than residents in Linton, Smythesdale and around the whole Shire,” he said.