By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Volunteers are in a stand-off with Casey Council over the security and entry system at Arthur Wren Hall in Hampton Park.
Long frustrated by the current lock-and-key entry, the volunteer hall managers want a keyless entry system – including a keypad – by 2018.
A keyless entry would end the expense of replacing locks and keys whenever the restricted keys are lost by hirers, Hampton Park Progress Association spokeswoman Vanassa Gerdes said.
It would also save on the onerous task of fronting up to the hall to deliver and collect keys from hirers many times a week. This happens at all hours, including weekends and evenings.
However, Casey Council has baulked at the request mainly due to cost.
The council’s preferred ‘Integriti’ security system and installation – which hooks up to the council’s centralised security system – would cost $25,000.
The volunteers say their desired security system can be installed for $10,000 less.
“We don’t want to hook up to the City of Casey,” Ms Gerdes said.
Due to the purported cost, hall managers have been told to apply for a grant from Casey’s minor capital works program.
But the volunteers say they have been knocked back while going down that route before.
The council has also offered a simple $500 keyless key pad system. It doesn’t meet the managers’ needs to restrict hiring groups access outside their allocated times, however.
At a 9 November meeting, councillor Wayne Smith said the keyless entry issue was a “huge issue” at what is Casey’s largest community hall.
He successfully moved for the keyless system to be considered in Casey’s mid-year budget review – if the minor capital works application failed.
