Council rescinds club motions

By Rebecca Fraser
CASEY councillors have overturned a contentious decision that would have seen two bickering sports clubs share the same Narre Warren South reserve.
At a special council meeting on Tuesday night, councillor Lorraine Wreford successfully moved that a notice of motion from last week’s council meeting be rescinded.
The motion, put forward by Cr Michael Farley last Tuesday, went against council officers’ recommendations.
Officers had recommended the Narre South Lions Junior Football Club (NSLJFC) use Strathaird Reserve for the 2006 winter season and the Maranatha Methodist Cricket Club (MMCC) use the reserve in summer.
However, last Tuesday Cr Farley moved that the NSLJFC equally share Strathaird Reserve for the winter season with the MMCC for the provision of both junior football and soccer.
In another controversial move, last week’s motion also moved that the council should provide football and soccer goal posts and floodlights from DBE Floodlighting at the reserve.
As reported in News last week, the floodlight company has recently threatened deputy mayor Rob Wilson with legal action over an outstanding payment of more than $30,000 for lights he ordered last April when acting on behalf of the MMCC in his former capacity as secretary.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Cr Wreford said officers had investigated the issues at Strathaird Reserve and had found soccer and other sports were not suitable for the “local community ground”.
Cr Wreford said she would like to see the officers’ recommendation adopted, as the officers were the ones who were unbiased and could give a good overview of the issues.
Edrington Ward councillor Brian Hetherton supported the move and said Cr Farley’s motion had been “poorly put together”.
After the rescission was passed almost unanimously, Cr Farley put up another alternative amendment similar to the original.
This was seconded by Cr Wilson.
The motion stated that the NSLJFC be allocated Strathaird Reserve for junior boys’ football as linked to the Dandenong District Junior Football League (DDJFL) on Sundays and the MMCC provide its junior boy players to play with the NSLJFC.
Cr Farley also moved that the MMCC be allocated Strathaird Reserve on Saturday for Auskick, girls’ under 18 football, Goalkick soccer and junior soccer.
The council’s provision of floodlights from DBE Floodlighting was removed from the motion.
However, City of Casey manager arts and leisure Robyn Bowen said officers had investigated and concluded there were risk management issues and significant insurance issues which made it not viable to have both a football and soccer ground on the same reserve.
Ms Bowen said the Football Federation of Victoria had said soccer for under 11 teams and older would be played on Sundays not Saturdays.
The DDJFL then said it was not possible to fixture the ground and cater for eight to 10 junior football teams as well as for soccer.
Ms Bowen said the council did not legally have the right to tell junior boys from the MMCC that they had to play for the NSLJFC.
The alternative amendment was subsequently lost and the officers’ original recommendation put forward again.
Nine of the 11 councillors voted to support the original recommendation and award the NSLJFC the reserve in winter.
The passed motion approved all other winter ground allocations for 2006 and also included that the council approve the allocation of $4000 for the purchase and installation of soccer goals and $10,000 to undertake the required remedial works for the purpose of establishing a soccer field within the centre of the athletics track at Lawson Poole Reserve, Cranbourne.
Cr Wreford said soccer pitches were also being developed at Hillsmeade Primary School in Narre Warren South so there would still be opportunities for Narre Warren South residents to play soccer locally.