Pavilion with the lot A SPORTS pavilion at Crib Point Recreation Reserve is receiving $2 million in upgrades as part of Mornington Peninsula Shire’s sport capacity plan and pavilion strategy. The Crib Point Football Netball Club and Crib Point Cricket Club now have new, shared change facilities, medical room, storage space, umpires’ change areas, and office space. There’s also a new public toilet. The two clubs can now stay in one place whereas previous change rooms
Shared space: The mayor Cr Despi O’Connor, Cr Lisa Dixon, Crib Point Football Netball Club secretary Leanne Gniel, Crib Point Football Netball Club president Steve Espenscheid and Crib Point Cricket Club president Ricky Thompson at the pavilion. Picture: Supplied
were beneath the grandstand, at the nearby public pool and in a portable building. “The project responds to the significant increase in sport participation in recent years, particularly female and junior involvement in field-based sports,” the mayor Cr Despi O’Connor said. “Council is pleased to be able to provide for this increased involvement in sports with new amenities where they are needed.” Cr Lisa Dixon said the shire was “working to provide inclusive, accessible and functional community sporting facilities suitable for our clubs and the broader community”. “The pavilion change rooms will provide better quality and more accessible facilities.”
God struck off the agenda beit under the heading Prayer, had also been “struck out”. Council agreed to the pledge suggested by Cr Anthony Marsh after advice from its in-house lawyer that the wording could be changed provided it was called a prayer. The pledge that masqueraded as a prayer will be gone in August, if council adopts the draft Governance Rules as shown on its website. Cr Celi said the move to delete the prayer from the agenda was “not included in any minutes leading up to the
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Cr Marsh’s version of the Prayer.” The shire’s head of governance and legal Amanda Sapolu said adopting operating rules which excluded a prayer could still be changed in the future. “The omission of the word prayer from the Governance Rules, means that the Prayer will not be an item that ‘must’ be on a council agenda,” Ms Sapolu said. “It does not exclude a council from including a prayer, or a pledge or some other item.” “Fraser’s feedback” Page 7
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18 May council meeting”. The process taken to reach that decision was detailed in report to that meeting, which also included a notice of motion by Cr Celi to “refer the Prayer and its wording to the review of the Governance Rules”. “In the draft that has gone out for public exhibition the item and the word ‘Prayer’ has been removed from the council agenda,” Cr Celia said. “It is proposed that no word ‘Prayer’ or its content be included at all on the agenda. This decision also strikes out
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MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is set to drop the reading of a prayer or pledge before future public council meetings. A template for future agendas in a draft of proposed changes to rules under which the council operates makes no provision for any declaration. The draft was adopted by council on 18 May and exhibited for public comment on 25 May, along with a news
release stating “in particular council seeks your input in relation to the [the removal from the agenda of the] prayer”. While the council wants to end the more than century-old tradition of asking for God’s help in making decisions, it will retain an acknowledgement of traditional land owners and of country. Cr Antonella Celi has confirmed that “prayer” will no longer be an item on council agendas. Cr Celi said the pledge that had been said before recent council meetings, al-
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Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au
Are you an aspiring writer? The Mayor’s Short Story Writing Awards celebrates local talent, stories and voices and is open to writers of all abilities.
Categories and prizes for short creative fiction 8 – 12 years and 12 – 17 years $500 prize and bookstore vouchers 18+ years $1,000 prize and two-week Police Point Artist Residency. Applications close Sunday 1 August 2021 at 5pm. Judges include: Gary Disher, Paul Kennedy, Danielle Binks and Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor Despi O’Connor.
mornpen.vic.gov.au/writingawards
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14 July 2021
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