Hall staffing probed

By Melissa Meehan
FOLLOWING the recent announcement that the Healesville Memorial Hall will be upgraded, Ward councillor Jeanette McRae has called for a council report into the staffing allocation across all community and cultural centres within the shire.
Cr McRae raised the issue through the chair during the council meeting last Tuesday night.
She said she wanted to get an understanding of staff allocation across the shire, through an analysis of staffing hours spent at each location.
Cr McRae said that she believed the Memorial Hall was not being used to its full potential, with the number of hours it is staffed by council workers less than other centres in other townships.
Although Cr McRae said she did not want to see staffing hours taken away from other centres, she said it was important to not let facilities such as the Memorial Hall gather dust.
Shire of Yarra Ranges manager of community relations James Martin said that the upgrades to the Memorial Hall had potential for a range of activities to be held at the hall.
He said that Cr McRae was keen to explore opportunities of the upgrades and that was why she has called for a report.
Mr Martin said a report will be done by council staff and given to councillors, but said he was unsure how long the report would take to research the information as it will need to take all centres into consideration.