By BRIDGET COOK
A CASEY councillor went against a move to make the council’s Wall of Global Friendships more inclusive because she doesn’t believe in the sentiment behind the wall.
At last week’s Casey council meeting, councillors resolved to review the guidelines for plaque contributions for the Wall of Global Friendships with a view to adding new eligibility criteria.
Cr Wayne Smith said the council wanted to review the guidelines after a request from the John Pandazopoulos Hall Committee of Management to allow themselves and broader multicultural groups to be eligible to contribute.
Four Oaks Ward councillor Rosalie Crestani was the only councillor to reject a review of the guidelines.
Cr Crestani said she didn’t agree with what the wall did by highlighting different cultures.
“I think we should be united Australian as a single cultural, not singling cultures out like this,” she said.
“I think the wall just singles groups out.”
The wall is a unique outdoor community space which celebrates and acknowledges Casey’s diverse cultural community and global friendships.
Located at the rear of the Balla Balla Community Centre in Cranbourne East, the wall features a collection of inscribed plaques from different ethnic groups that have come to settle in Casey, and from Casey’s sister cities.
