Ballan chosen as the meeting place

By Kate Taylor

Starting from February, all Moorabool Shire council meetings will be held in Ballan.
February is the first Ordinary Meeting of Council for 2018, and OMCs will be held on the first Wednesday of each month until December.

A range of different times and locations of council meetings across the shire have been tried over previous years, 7pm and 5pm, and in 2018 the time for the OMCs will now be 6pm.

Development Assessment Meetings will be held in Bacchus Marsh, on the second Wednesday of each month.

The changes came at the recommendation of council officers, with councillors voting to approve the move.

East Ward Councillor Dave Edwards told the Moorabool News the issue is one of both sound and money.

“We have had many complaints from Bacchus Marsh meetings that people cannot hear etc – Ballan has a decent speaker system and needs no real changes to remain effective and is a dedicated chamber,” Cr Edwards said.

Along with the DAC meetings, some special meetings will be held in Bacchus Marsh.
“Council will schedule special meetings in Bacchus Marsh when there is Bacchus Marsh-specific issues that attract a lot of public attention ie Bunnings, the gym etc. These would be in the public hall or supper room that has the ability to cater for many people but would require a speaker system to be hired for the evening.”

The schedule of meetings will be re-evaluated next year (2019) – and a potential new location looked at.

“Council has a task to look at the feasibility of a dedicated council chamber at the Darley office but this would require funding to be effectively implemented and thus subject to future budgets.”