The following two stories appear in today’s Caulfield Glen Eira Leader. Both are by Jenny Ling –

An unusual exercise: Gym joiners jumping mad at price mystery  

GLEN Eira Council has been accused of ‘‘cloak and dagger’’ tactics after refusing to publicly reveal gym and swim membership prices for the $41.2 million Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre. Residents got their lycra in a twist over specials advertised before the membership launch on Wednesday.

The centre’s Facebook page and website exclaimed that discounted memberships were on sale at ‘‘never-to-be-repeated prices’’ for the first 500 people, with a saving of more than $350. But those trying to sign up had to phone to secure an appointment with a
consultant to find out what they could expect to pay.

Paul Wilson wrote: ‘‘Not good enough GESAC folks. You’ve been building this one up for months and . . . drumroll . . . I now have the wonderful opportunity to call up and make an appointment to see a salesguy. If you have a product you wish to sell, get back to me. But enough of this cloak and dagger rubbish.’’

The council received 500 inquiries in the 24 hours before 3pm on June 1 about the modern aquatic, fitness, sports and rehabilitation facility in Bentleigh East, expected to open in time for summer. And 20 people have joined.

Centre manager Mark Collins said there were 12 different membership types, depending on age, type of facility and times of use. He would not reveal the price range. Everyone who inquired was phoned back and told what prices would be for them, he said.

‘‘We want to speak to people individually because one rate doesn’t suit all,’’ Mr Collins said.

‘‘People see a price and go ‘OK, it’s too expensive’ or some people say ‘it’s too cheap’, but they’ve got no idea of what that price entitles them to.’’ He said the prices were ‘‘ more than competitive’’ and would be publicised by the time it opened.

Clubs crying foul: Aquatic centre court fees too expensive for local hoops 

LOCAL basketball clubs are disappointed they can’t afford l ofty Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre costs.

McKinnon Basketball Association, which represents six clubs with 1400 members, applied to Glen Eira Council to use the courts at GESAC, expected to open later this year. But the association’s expression of interest was rejected.

Vice-president John Humble said he was disappointed. ‘ ‘ The initial expression of interest requested by council stressed the importance of the community aspects of the applications but when all was said and done . . . it all boiled down to money first, second and third,’’ Mr Humble said.

Ormond Jets Basketball Club vice-president Robyn Whitelaw said at $50 an hour, the club could not afford it. The club pays Brighton, Bentleigh and McKinnon secondary colleges between $ 25-$ 30 an hour on weekends to use their courts.

‘‘We started to appeal (to the council) to the fact we were a local community group and they said others are willing to pay, so back luck essentially,’’ Mrs Whitelaw said. ‘‘We thought it was a little unfair.’’

Council spokesman Paul Burke s ai d e ach s ubmission was assessed on community benefit, price and capacity.

The s uccessful applicant, Oakleigh Warriors, offered more hours of community basketball and a greater range of programs as well as ‘‘payment at the level already in place in many similar centres around Melbourne’’.

‘‘GESAC is a major community facility and council wishes to see maximum community use,’’ Mr Burke said.

Launceston City Council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said yesterday that the council had enlisted two Melbourne consultants to carry out the review. He wants their recommendations on his desk by early next month so that there is time to use their findings  in the preparation of the council budget for next financial year.

“My objective is to put a model to aldermen before the budget that will  markedly turn around the financial operation of the pool,” Mr Dobrzynski said.

The move comes after the council’s last quarterly financial review revealed that the aquatic centre was the most  excessive of the council’s three big spenders – outstripping Aurora Stadium and the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. The  aquatic centre was over budget by more than $416,000 for the last quarter alone, with fears that the annual loss will rise above $1.2 million.

There has also been strong community criticism that much of the infrastructure of the $26 million, two-year-old centre is not used even though it was purpose-built to generate revenue. A creche is used as a staff meeting room, and space for a gymnasium,
physiotherapy rooms and other wellbeing facilities is empty.

Local, not-for-profit swim clubs have either restricted their use of the centre to winter or not at all because they say that they can’t afford the excessive lane hire charges.

Mr Dobrzynski inherited the financial burden of the centre.

It was completed in his predecessor Frank Dixon’s time when Chris Zidak  was the city architect and aquatic centre project manager. Mr Zidak is now major projects and development manager at the Victorian  Maroondah Council, where Mr Dixon is the chief executive, and the two are planning the council’s $48 million Ringwood regional aquatic and leisure centre.

Mr Dobrzynski said that the cost of the  Launceston facility was “very significant” but he was optimistic that the the review was an opportunity to reduce costs.
Alderman Jeremy Ball, who ran a strong anti-aquatic centre campaign before he was elected to the council, said yesterday that his fears of excessive recurrent costs had been realised. “My argument always was that it was a far too large a capital cost for the city and ratepayers,” he said.

Mr Dobrzynski said that the review would look at reasons for the under-utilisation of infrastructure and the high energy consumption, which was “very significant”.

QUESTIONS:

• How many local sporting/social groups have been priced out of GESAC?
• How many ‘expressions of interest’ have been received? How many have been awarded to groups/organisations outside of Glen Eira?
• How much will it cost to heat a 50m outdoor pool throughout the year? How much will this contribute to carbon pollution?
• How much will the 50 odd extra staff cost ratepayers?
• Will GESAC ever pay for itself?

The following is taken directly from an Audit Committee Report on Asset Management (August 14th, 2006). It has great bearing on the present parlous state of council drains and their maintenance. We quote:

Good asset management provides the desired level of service (functionality and presentation) in the most cost effective manner for the present and future. It involves all activities associated with managing of our community assets including planning, creating, operating, maintaining, replacing, renewing, disposing and financial planning.

Good asset management at Glen Eira demonstrates to the community that Council is a responsible steward of their assets.

We have not yet assessed the number of additional properties that will experience flooding because of the lack of Council drainage but it is likely to be substantial (Council has received over 8,000 requests for action relating to drainage since 1996). 

Renewal, Upgrade and New

Our preliminary assessment is that we require about an average of $1.2 million per annum to renew Council’s drainage system in a timely manner. This is about the amount we are currently spending. However, with almost all of Council’s drains having a remaining life of less than 50 years, it is likely that we will need $2.4 million a year for the next 50 years. Such an amount is likely to address only the issue of renewal and does not address the need to upgrade or extend Council’s drainage system to meet current design standards.

A comprehensive investigation into the capacity of Council drainage network is currently underway. To date, Council staff have identified over $20 million in works where Council could improve the capacity of its drainage system to meet current design standards.

In addition to the lack of Council drainage to address current flooding issues, Melbourne Water is predicting that climate change will lead to less but more severe rainfall events. This may lead to changes to the way the Council manages flooding and may require Council to replace drains with even larger drains.

As development increases, and land becomes more valuable, there is increasing pressure from the community to allow owners to develop over Council drains in easements. We therefore anticipate that in the long-term it will cost more to maintain, replace and upgrade our drains within property easements.”

These statements should also be read in conjunction with the Victorian Auditor General’s Report Managing Storm Water Flooding Risks in Melbourne (July 2005). On practically every single criterion evaluated by the Auditor General, Glen Eira features near the very bottom of its comparative councils. Residents should be asking what has changed since 2005?

More than 3 months ago, Esakoff requested a report on the February 4th deluge that devastated many homes in McKinnon and Ormond. The report demanded information on (amongst other things): how well council had coped; drainage management programs; council’s plans to reduce flooding. We are still waiting!!!! Sadly, residents are also waiting simply to get back into their homes. Below is today’s Moorabbin Leader  story by Jessica Bennett –

ORMOND and McKinnon residents left homeless after February’s flash floods are a step closer to closure. A meeting was held recently with Bentleigh s t a t e Liberal MP Elizabeth Miller, Glen Eira Council and Melbourne Water to resolve issues from the flooding and develop a flood-management plan.

Resident Tim Harkin, who was due to move into his home the day after more than 100m of rain hit the area, said the meeting was ‘‘constructive’’. ‘‘They’ve come up with a plan to help things in the short term as well as to fix things long-term,’’ he said. ‘‘The residents who attended the meeting were happy with the outcome and we hope to see it followed through.’’ Mr Harkin said the area was still recovering, with many residents still unable to move back into their damaged homes. ‘‘It’s about four months down the track and we’re still three months from moving in,’’ he said. ‘‘A lot are still out of their homes and as of two weeks ago, a few were still waiting to be assessed by insurance companies.’’

Glen Eira Council spokesman Paul Burke said Melbourne Water confirmed the intensity of the rainfall had been ‘‘extremely severe’’ and that no urban drainage system could have coped. He said Melbourne Water planned to replace the grated pit over the drain at the corner of Cadby Ave and Murray St that blocked during the flooding.

He said the council and Melbourne Water would work to develop a flood-management plan and identify flooding hotspots in Glen Eira.

Ms Miller said she had called the meeting as residents were still feeling the effects of the floods. ‘‘These floods exposed the need to improve the maintenance and clearing of stormwater drains and the need for Melbourne Water and Glen Eira Council, two of the  relevant authorities, to work on this issue,’’ she said.

PS: We’ve just received the following email and photo – “Maybe the attached photo would be of interest. It shows water rapidly filling up the basement carpark of a property in the Carnegie Urban Village, an area where Council has granted permits for 100% site coverage, despite what its Planning Scheme says about drainage and permeability.”