By JESSE GRAHAM
IT was a night of debate and turnarounds for the Yarra Ranges Council at last night’s meeting.
The first issue on the agenda for the 25 March meeting was the matter of a proposed 40-metre Telstra monopole to be erected at Millgrove’s Sawmill site, at 3045 Warburton Highway.
Brendan Partel spoke on behalf of those opposing the pole, and said it would have an unacceptable impact on the landscape in Millgrove, towering above trees and shops in the main street.
Telstra’s corporate affairs manager David Imber and planning consultant Matt Evans pleaded the case in support of the pole being erected, and said the pole would expand the network’s capacity in the event of a catastrophe.
After debate about other potential sites, the benefits and pitfalls of the proposed pole, Councillor Jim Child moved for an alternate motion to be passed by council approving the construction.
The planning permit was approved in a six-to-one vote.
The council unanimously endorsed its mid-year report and approved funding for a budget shortfall at the Keith Hume Fraser Pavilion in Montrose, which saw developments stalled over the need for a sewerage system in the project.
The council’s report said the sewerage system was an “unplanned need”, and the budget shortfall is listed in the council’s report as $110,000.
A review of operations for the Healesville and Wesburn waste transfer stations (tips) was then discussed, with a proposal on the table to advertise an intention to close the Healesville tip as of February 2015 and reduce Wesburn’s opening days to four per week.
The closure of the Healesville tip, according to the council’s report, would save $900,000 in the coming seven years.
Mayor Fiona McAllister immediately pushed for an alternative, which would have seen services continue at the Healesville tip until 2022, with a review of operations to take place in 2020.
In her alternative motion, Cr McAllister said that the $900,000 savings were not justifiable in the face of closing what she saw as an essential service to Healesville.
Following intense debate about the need for the service and accessibility to Coldstream’s tip, Cr McAllister’s motion was lost in a five-to-three vote, and the original proposal to advertise the intention to close was moved.
As a result, the council will be taking public submissions for the next four weeks on the proposal to close the Healesville tip and will make a decision at the end of that time.
The deadline for submissions is 22 April.
An item was raised through the chair at the end of the evening, which proposed a financial contribution to Healesville’s Jack Hort Memorial Pool of $40,000, an increase on the council’s annual $10,000 funding.
Cr McAllister said the matter of the pool was an urgent issue, with the pool in danger of closing due to a yearly $40,000 deficit.
The motion featured a condition that a joint use agreement with the pool and community centre be reviewed and the pool’s practices be audited for improvement.
The council will report later in the year on the progress at the pool and discuss further financial support then.
For the full story on each of these issues, see next week’s Mail.
