Next year’s prestigious Keilor Gift was called off because of a $5000 funding shortfall.
When the organising committee broke the news on October 18 that the 2017 foot race had been cancelled because Brimbank council had cut its funding in half, the sum of money at stake was not disclosed.
The council was unable to comment at the time because of laws forbidding it from publishing information while in caretaker mode, potentially influencing the outcome of the election.
The caretaker period came to an end last Monday and the council has since said it told Keilor Gift organisers it had cut funding to $5000, down from $10,000 in previous years.
Brimbank’s director of community wellbeing, Kath Brackett, said the council recognises the value of such community events as the Keilor Gift, but it had been forced to make cutbacks to meet the state government’s legislated rate rise cap of 2.5 per cent.
“To achieve this, council has struck a balance between maintaining current levels of service, reducing operational costs and reviewing the way some programs are delivered,” she said. “This will become increasingly difficult in future budgets when further savings need to be identified.
“A decision to reduce council’s funding support for the Keilor Gift to $5000 was an outcome of the need to be financially responsible, while taking into account the many competing needs from the diverse Brimbank community,” Ms Brackett said.
She encouraged the Keilor Gift organising committee to seek alternative sources of funding to ensure “this great event continues”.
Last month, organising committee president Hayden Kelly said council’s funding cut put the viability of the 83-year-old event in jeopardy.
“The overwhelming feeling at the moment is one of disappointment,” Mr Kelly said at the time. He did not respond to questions last week before
Star Weekly went to press.
Niddrie MP Ben Carroll said he was surprised the scheduled February 11 event had been called off because of a $5000 shortfall.
“But with some goodwill, I’m sure we could get it running in 2017,” he said.
“With a newly elected Brimbank council, there will be an opportunity for us to come together to ensure this proud local event is properly restored … on the Keilor calendar.”
