FEBRUARY 12, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
(Luke Hemer)
Dance duo steps it up Emmasyn and Sienna are on a high after their national championship win. The Melton duo, both 11, returned with gold in the jazz and contemporary sections of the Showcase Australia Dance Championships on the Gold Coast last month. The competition attracts dancers and troupes from all over Australia and New Zealand vying for a national title in jazz, tap, contemporary, hip-hop, ballet, acrobatics and musical theatre. Emmasyn, from Hoppers Crossing, and Melton’s Sienna have been dancing since they were three and teamed up this year for their first performances as a duo. The girls, who dance with Galactic Dance and Events in Melton, came away with the overall duo/trio highest score for the Australasian competition. Emmasyn’s mother Ainsley Foust said she was “exceptionally proud” of the girls. “I’m blown away with how well they did,” Ms Foust said. “It’s their first time performing as a duo and they spent their holidays practising. “Individually they both ranked in the top-20 in Australasia in their age group. “They were also a part of a team of 30 other local Melton students who competed with troupes coming away with amazing results.” SIENNA AND EMMASYN
Esther Lauaki
Pokies about-face fails By Esther Lauaki An attempt to overturn Melton council’s decision to extend Essendon Football Club’s 29-year lease of Melton Country Club has failed. The council voted unanimously in December for Essendon’s continued operation of Melton Country Club and its 89 poker machines until the end of 2047. But councillor Steve Abboushi put forward a rescission motion following that meeting, in a bid to enable more community voices. His motion was voted down at last Monday’s meeting, the first of the year.
“You can only try your best to minimise any harm to the community,” Cr Aboushi told Star Weekly last week. “I didn’t have the majority in the end, which is a bit disappointing.” Cr Aboushi and three other councillors supported the motion. According to the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Melton suffered $27.7 million in AFL club-sponsored pokies losses across three venues in 2017 and 2018. Hawthorn has associations with WestWaters Hotel in Caroline Springs. Collingwood was associated with The Club, also in Caroline Springs, but last year announced it was ALL NEW
divesting itself of poker machines across the west. Alliance director Tim Costello last year urged councillors to refuse to extend Essendon’s lease. “If the Melton councillors are brave and reject the officer recommendation to stay in the gambling business, it will have a powerful motivating impact on the reform movement,” Mr Costello said. Melton Country Club is home to Melton RSL. RSL secretary Kevin Murray, has said a loss of the club’s ongoing sponsorship, facilities and hospitality would be “detrimental to the Melton RSL”.
“The Melton RSL sub-branch is a relatively new, relatively small, sub-branch,” Mr Murray said last week. “Until our entry into an agreement with the Melton Country Club, we were not able to offer our members access to the usual facilities expected of an RSL sub-branch … a dining room, bar, function rooms and, in some instances, gaming rooms. The country club is now regarded as our home.” Mr Murray said the Melton Country Club provided financial and practical support to the RSL and the broader community. “The investment in us by the club is the single largest donation we receive each year,” he said.
NEW
HAVE ARRIVED AT HARRISON SUZUKI MELTON!! Andrew 0400 609 490 - Doug 0412 009 436 156 -158 High Street, Melton 8746 0323 12411057-CG08-19