NOVEMBER 13, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
(Damjan Janevski)
There’s a bear in there It’s going to be a beary good Christmas this year. Salvation Army Employment Plus Work for the Dole participants in St Albans have made nearly 250 teddy bears for the Wyndham City Salvation Army Corps’ Christmas Toy appeal, which will go to the children of families in need over the festive season. Envision Employment Work for the Dole supervisor Chris said the group of 15 was initially tasked with building 200 signature bears in 26 weeks using donated materials for the toy appeal. He said despite a slow start due to sewing skill levels and language barriers, the group met its target long before deadline – and then made an extra 48 bears to donate. Work for the dole advisor Kelly Meehan said even though the group project had now finished, a number of the participants have chosen to stay on as volunteers to keep making the bears. “Our participants have displayed a tremendous work ethic as the quality and quantity of their output shows,” she said. Wyndham Salvos captain Kim Haworth added: “The whole aspect of it is to teach people who are long-term unemployed new skills to be able to find work.” KELLY MEEHAN
Charlene Macaulay
Shallow call on pool bid By Tate Papworth
12403389-DJ45-18 10062226-20
Brimbank council’s application for funding for the redevelopment of the St Albans Leisure Centre failed to address key issues and was under-developed, according to a leaked document. The council’s bid for a $3 million grant last week was rejected by the state government, leading to an outpouring of angst from a number of councillors. But the leaked document, obtained by Star Weekly Weekly, says the council’s Better Pools application and schematic plans fell short in a range of key areas, including gender
equality and environmental sustainability. It says the council’s costings didn’t allow for cost escalation and the need for a redeveloped leisure centre was not strongly communicated in the application. But new Brimbank mayor Lucinda Congreve disputes the report’s claims. “In June, council submitted a detailed application for Community Sport Infrastructure Funding, under the Better Pools category, to Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV),” she said. “To ensure success, the application was co-developed with Otium Planning Group, a highly respected sport and leisure consultancy
service with a significant track record and understanding of grant submissions. “Benchmarked against previously successful applications under the same or similar funding programs, we believe our application was sufficiently detailed, addressed all the funding requirements and ticked every policy box.” She said the council had not been informed of any shortcomings in its application. “Council is yet to receive any formal advice from SRV as to why this application was unsuccessful, but have been disappointed to see unsourced and unverified information being circulated, suggesting that project outcomes
including gender equity policies and healthy food choices were not defined in council’s application for swimming pool funding. “Council rejects any contention that the combined information supplied during application and follow-up was in any way deficient.” Despite the setback, Cr Congreve said the council would continue to strongly push for the $53 million project to go ahead. “Council will continue work, undeterred by this recent setback, and will redouble our efforts to secure significant government funding as our community deserves,” she said.
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