The Council meeting to adopt the draft 2018/19 budget was held at the Shire offices this evening.

It was pleasing to note that, included in the Council papers were 9 submissions from our members – by far the most submissions tabled.

Ken Crompton undertook an enormous amount of research into all of the aspects of both the Council’s and the federal government’s stance on the provision of sporting facilities and the importance they placed on the ‘green wedge’ concept.

He put our delegation’s submissions to Council and when he ran out of his allotted 3 minutes, I was able to complete the submission of our concerns.

Overall, the response from Council was encouraging:

 – Council confirmed their view of the golf course as definitely a long-term asset. While they did not go as far as saying they would never sell off Yarrambat Park, it is clearly not on their agenda.

 – Council noted the concerns of our members at the current state of the course, particularly the greens. They did not agree to additional funding this year beyond the planned planting of 500 new trees, but in response to my submission, they noted that ‘…should urgent works arise during the year they will be considered by Council’ This will be teased out in a follow-up meeting (see below).

 – Council agreed that a long-term plan for the course was critical and to that end they quoted an agreement struck with a management company, by Ivanhoe golf course . This company is tasked with the management and maintenance of the course and by all accounts, is doing a good job.

 – We noted that we were aware of Council’s discussions with Belgravia, but noted further that our Committee were not informed as to what was being proposed. We stressed the importance of our club being consulted as to the future of the course.

 – Council moved a motion to consult with our Committee prior to any deal being struck re the future of the course and surrounds.

This consultation will take place within weeks.  Council’s actual commitment will be tested during these discussions and we will keep you all informed of the results.

Thank you to all the members who contributed to making the Committee and the Council aware of your concerns. It is clear that they now understand our position.

A particular thanks to Des Borg, Tom Finch, Beth and Ken Crompton who attended tonight’s meeting and most of all to Ken, for putting in the ‘hard yards’ on this.

Gavin Pearce, Club President

 

 

← Back to previous page