Tara Murray
The ongoing saga over plans for Sydenham Park will go on for at least another month after a heated Brimbank council meeting last week.
Councillors voted to defer voting on a report on the final draft master plan until the next council meeting.
The officers recommended that councillors support the plan, which was unchanged from the draft plan voted on by the councillors in October.
Cr Ranka Rasic called for an amendment to the deferral, calling for further councillor consultation to be held before the next meeting and for there to be amendments to the plan if required.
This was met with a heated discussion, with Cr Maria Kerr saying she felt like they were wasting time discussing the item, as they were planning to defer.
Cr Kerr was warned by mayor Jasmine Nguyen to stop interrupting during the item.
The proposed amendment passed, with the overall deferral motion also passing. Councillors Sam David, Victoria Borg and Sarah Branton voted against the final motion.
Several plans and community consultation have occurred across nearly 20 years for the park.
Cr Rasic said she wanted the councillors to discuss what should be in the plan, not just briefed. She said she was disappointed that some councillors believed discussing this was a waste of time.
“A little bit more consultation … As councillors we get a little bit more involved in this report, other than just officers just reporting to us.
“I’m not talking about having extra facilities [sporting], I’m not fussed by that. I was briefed on something I didn’t agree with and at the last second I didn’t get a chance to speak to as we spoke about so many different things.
“I think we need to do it properly rather than go back and repatch what we didn’t do properly this time round.”
Cr Bruce Lancashire said he had many concerns about the draft plan.
They included fencing and gates which went against council policy, restricted access to parts of the park, paths with lack of sun and shading, the location of a maintenance shed, a new path between Organ pipes and Sydenham Park which is great result not being included on the plan and restrictions of adding additional sport fields.
