Calls for new secondary school – Moorabool Shire Council meeting briefs

MOORABOOL councillor Rod Ward has launched a campaign to have another secondary school built in the Bacchus Marsh area.

A notice of motion Cr Ward submitted at last week’s council meeting, seeking a State Government feasibility study into a second school in the 2025–26 financial year, was carried unanimously.

The motion calls for a school to be built “as a matter of urgency” if the study supports the proposal.

It also wants a feasibility study to consider likely future need for a public secondary school in Ballan.

Cr Ward told the meeting his notice of motion was prompted by an Infrastructure Victoria article he read last December which projected that Victoria will need about 900 new kindergartens, up to 60 new government schools and 20 per cent more teaching space for TAFE over the next decade.

“I was alarmed to see that there was no mention of Moorabool there,” he said.

“Knowing the potential growth of Moorabool I was concerned that there was no mention of a secondary college in the greater Bacchus Marsh area.

“And in visiting Ballan, I also noticed that people in Ballan … have raised their concerns.”

Bacchus Marsh has one state secondary school (Bacchus Marsh College) and one private school (Bacchus Marsh Grammar).

Cr Ward said in his motion’s explanatory notes that both secondary schools are “under stress” and “a significant number” of students are now forced to travel to Melton, Ballarat or elsewhere for their secondary education.

“There are currently 10 buses (each of 40-plus students) departing Bacchus Marsh daily … to take students to secondary schools in Ballarat and Melton,” he said.

In relation to Ballan, Cr Ward said Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2023 put the township’s population at 2740 and predicted a total of 6714 in 2041.

He said Ballan does not have a secondary school, and four buses already transport students daily to schools in Bacchus Marsh and Daylesford.

Letters requesting the feasibility study will be sent to Premier Jacinta Allan, Minister for Education Ben Carroll, Minister for Regional Development Jaclyn Symes, Member for Eureka Michaela Settle and Member for Melton Steve McGhie.

An invitation to meet council representatives to discuss the issue will also be sent to Mr Carroll, Ms Settle and Mr McGhie.

Cr Moira Berry declared a conflict of interest and was not in the chamber when the motion was raised.

Report on Maddingley Park turf wicket

In a second notice of motion, Cr Steve Venditti-Taylor successfully proposed a report be prepared on installing a turf cricket pitch at Maddingley Park.

Cr Venditti-Taylor’s motion said the current Maddingley Park Master Plan does not include installation of a turf wicket.

Representatives of the Bacchus Marsh Cricket Club and Bacchus Marsh Football and Netball Club had written to him about having one supplied, it said.

Cr Venditti-Taylor said Maddingley Park had been the cricket club’s home base for the past 50 years, and for the football club a turf pitch would remove a concrete hazard.

A turf wicket would provide more opportunities for cricketers to play on the surface, which would in turn attract new players and retain others, he said, and would also provide a venue suitable for high-level matches.

Cr Venditti-Taylor said the proposal would “maximise junior development for boys and girls.”

The motion asked council officers to prepare a report on the costs of installing a turf wicket – sought for a number of years by the cricket club – and engage with different users of the park to better understand their needs.

Cr Venditti-Taylor’s notice of motion was seconded by Cr Jarrod Bingham.

Tennis pavilion, aths track contributions queried

Shire contributions of more than $1.4 million to two proposed sport facilities were questioned by Cr Tom Sullivan.

Cr Sullivan voiced dissatisfaction with a council contribution of $10,000 to a $50,000 accessibility upgrade of the tennis pavilion at Maddingley Park, and a commitment to fund $1.4 million of a $2.4 million upgrade of the athletics track at the Masons Lane Recreation Reserve.

He raised the concerns over a recommendation to authorise officers to submit two grant applications under Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund program.

All applications for grant money from the program must be supported by a council resolution.

The two Moorabool applications will be for $40,000 for the tennis pavilion (improved disability access) and $1 million for the athletics track (a new synthetic surface).

But Cr Sullivan questioned why the council was proposing to contribute to a pavilion upgrade when it was managed by a group (the Bacchus Marsh Lawn Tennis Club) that was independent.

“It’s a council asset but we don’t control it,” he said. “I just find it a little bit difficult to come to grips with [the fact] that we’re doing this.

“The idea of what it’s for is commendable, but should we be using community resources for that?

“I’m not undermining what the grant is being sought for, but this group have remained independent of council for all the time I’ve been on council.

“We’ve said it’s our asset but we’ve never had anything to do with it.”

Regarding the athletics track application, Cr Sullivan objected to the proposal to commit to a contribution of $1.4 million (in the 2025–26 and 2026–27 budgets) when exact costings had not been determined.

“I’m sort of concerned when we’re kicking the can down the road and saying we’ll pick it up in the ’26–27 budget,” he said.

Cr Sullivan said the track upgrade was a good project “but the process is very, very poor.”

CEO Derek Madden told the meeting that Cr Sullivan was basically correct.

“…You would be allocating funds from a following year budget to this project, and that’s because we wouldn’t be doing the project without the grant funding so it’s a little bit of a chicken and egg one,” Mr Madden said.y

Cr Ward successfully moved to approve the grant applications, with Cr Berry seconding. Cr Sullivan did not vote.