No name change for rec reserve

AFTER much community contention, the naming of Elaine’s recreation epicentre will remain unchanged following a decision from Moorabool Shire council last week.

The retention was decided by councillors during their regular meeting on Wednesday last week following an initial proposal by the reserve’s community asset committee in 2022 to rename the site to the Ron Read Recreation Reserve.

Following the original petition, which saw 106 signatures, the proposal was opened for public feedback earlier this year and saw 56 supporters and 255 objectors as well as an opposing petition from the town’s cricket club containing 113 signatures.

More than 80 per cent of submissions rejected the original renaming proposal.

Elaine Cricket Club secretary Shane Dunne, who presented during the meeting item, said the decision to keep the name has been community-driven.

“The councillors represent the community and the community didn’t want it,” he said.

“We’re happy to name something else to recognise Ron but to name a whole recreation reserve after him is a different story.

“There’s a lot of families that have donated trees around the reserve and people are talking about naming a bench after him or putting a plaque on a tree. There are other ways to recognise people.”

Ron Read, who passed away in 2021, served as chair of the rec reserve’s community asset committee for 10 years and contributed to the site for about three decades overall.

Current committee chairperson Diane Cook said though she’s disheartened by the response the committee will continue aiming to honour Mr Read’s legacy.

“We were very disappointed it was rejected,” she said. “It’s been two and a half years of work and we can only put it down to people coming and going within the community.

“We thought we were doing something good for the community and to honour someone who worked in the community for three decades was reasonable.

“We’re glad to hear the Shire will apparently still be doing something to honour Ron.

“The committee itself does has have a plaque ready and a seat that was at Ron’s place. His wife has chosen a spot and that’s a work in progress to go with extra seating around the reserve.”