One item on the agenda at last council meeting was the Centenary Park Pavilion and the vote for the go ahead in building the facility. Worthy of note is the ‘consultation’ which accompanied this decision and the manner in which it was conducted. The officers report tells us that ‘consultation’ consisted of:
“Following a joint meeting with pavilion tenants submissions were received from:
St Peters Junior Football Club
Bentleigh United Cricket Club”.
If officers had their way then this would be the end of the story. Their recommendation was: “That this project continues to the next stage – development of concept plans, costing, works schedule and further consultation with tenant clubs”. It took an amendment from Tang to get the words ‘and community’ added.
In stark contrast to this approach there’s a similar proposal for a pavilion redevelopment in Port Phillip. We simply highlight how they go about their ‘consultation’ –
“Consultation on the proposed redevelopment was undertaken from the 30 April for three weeks.
3.10 Consultation included a letter box drop to local residents, signage on site and opportunity to comment on the Have Your Say website. Key stakeholders including the sports clubs and schools were also directly consulted.
3.11 In addition a Project Page for the project has been maintained on the Port Phillip website”. (http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/Report_3_Alma_Park_Pavilion.pdf)
Not hard if the inclination is there! But if the objective is to exclude community input, then Glen Eira wins hands down each time!
Glen Eira Debates 
September 9, 2012 at 12:24 PM
There’s no harm in seeking the opinion of the various clubs using grounds. But when you’re going to spend hundreds of thousands if not millions then the consultation should be far wider. Sports groups aren’t the only ones to use the parks as we keep being told. But they’re the only ones whose opinion seems to count in Glen Eira. Shows again the joke that the consultation policy really is and how Burke and his lot are determined to keep most people out.
September 9, 2012 at 9:26 PM
Reminds me of McKinnon Pavilion and ten million bucks spent. Who got a say about anything there? Has anyone seen the design or plans or only the select few sporting clubs.