November 26, 2021
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A colourful message
Zonta Club of Geelong members Beryl McMillan, Connie Adornetto, Cheryl Gibbons, Jane Ardonetto, Debbie Schmidt and Chris Denmead.
The Zonta Club of Geelong is encouraging the community to ‘Orange the World’ in support of eliminating violence against women. Thursday was the United Nations’ Day of Elimination of Violence against women, which kick started 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. On Thursday, the Zonta Club walked in solidarity with victim-survivors of family violence from Cunningham Pier to Eastern Beach and back to raise awareness. Spokesperson Chris Denmead said the club’s members also planned to wear orange over the next two weeks, attach orange streamers to their cars and mailboxes and “spread the message”. “Domestic and family violence is still way too prevalent everywhere in the world, not just here, and we need to keep working to reduce that,” she said. “We want to see as many people wearing orange over the next 16 days, because the more people see the orange, they’re going to ask about it. “Then we’re starting the conversation and that’s what it is about.”
CBD COVID recovery plan The City of Greater Geelong will reintroduce free parking in December and investigate the potential of a voucher system, similar to the one used in Melbourne, to get visitors back into the CBD as part of its COVID support initiatives. Councillors voted to endorse more than $2 million worth of COVID support at Tuesday’s council meeting, with a focus on helping the arts sector and hospitality businesses bounce back over summer. One of the initiatives, at an estimated cost of $190,000, will be the waiving of parking fees in all two-hour metred on-street parking spaces in the CBD, after a proposal put forward
by councillor Eddy Kontelj was narrowly supported. Five councillors – Stephanie Asher, Trent Sullivan, Kylie Grzybek, Anthony Aitken and Ron Nelson – supported Cr Kontelj’s proposal, which would see fees waived throughout December. Cr Kontelj said the initiative would bring more people into the CBD and get them spending money at businesses that have struggled for the past 18 months. “We know how important free parking is to generating visitation to shopping precincts, that’s been proven when you look at areas like Pakington Street, Waurn Ponds, Highton, and even High Street,” he said. “People go where they can afford to go and
at the moment people are struggling financially as we head into Christmas.” Cr Sullivan added that CBD parking was already free on the weekend, when more people had time to visit the CBD, and it made sense to extend that to December and the Christmas period. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t pursue that … there are people who paying a few dollars for parking is a barrier [to visiting the CBD],” he said. However several councillors, including Peter Murrihy and Bruce Harwood, were strongly opposed to the move, stating there was no proof free parking brought more people into the CBD.
Cr Kontelj’s proposal also included a push for the city to investigate whether it could introduce a voucher system to encourage residents to spend money at CBD hospitality businesses, as it currently used in the City of Melbourne. The idea was roundly supported by the other councillors, with a report due to return to council by March next year. The support package will also include almost $600,000 worth of grants, including $400,000 for the arts sector. There will also be more than $900,000 worth of rental relief for tenants in city-owned buildings and $300,000 to support tourism within the region.
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