While the Rochester community awaits the final report and recommendations for its own Place Based Plan, “quick win’’ projects in the form of dog parks have been allocated funding through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program by council.
Councillors Paul Jarman, Tony Marwood and Leanne Pentreath all voted against the two dog parks being included as “approved projects’’, instead asking the council delay its approval until detailed costings and plans were available.
The dog parks, which are both among projects in the Kyabram and Tongala Place Based Plan documents, were eventually included in an LRCI phase four funding recommendation that included six projects worth a total of $4.135 million.
They were the widening and safety enhancemement of Toolleen-Axedale Rd ($2.3 million), Kyabram netball court shelter ($250,000), Rochester Recreation Reserve lighting ($306,000), Toolleen Recreation Reserve ($180,000), Campaspe public amenities program ($575,182) and the dog parks.
Under funding conditions, all projects must be completed before June 2025.
In moving a motion that the dog parks be included in the recommendation, Cr Colleen Gates said the LRCI had allowed for some “life-changing’’ projects for community groups across the shire.
“This is a continuation of that. A number of Place Based Plan groups have started delivering projects and two of those groups have identified dog parks as their quick win projects,” she said.
“In recent times, councillors have become more conciliatory to helping communities get the projects they want.
“We know the costings for dog parks, because we have delivered one (Echuca East).
“Kyabram community has undertaken a significant amount of work and devoted a lot of time to this project. These are two examples of what Place Based Plans are designed to achieve.”
Cr Gates said she did not consider the construction of two dog parks in Tongala and Kyabram as a complicated piece of work, compared to what council had been working on and considering.
Cr Jarman spoke against the motion, suggesting every other project in phase four had gone through full planning, design and costings and were needs and usage-based.
“I think the $500,000 should be removed and returned back to the LRCI,” he said.
“If we work on the principles of a Place Based Plan, that is good, but we still have a responsibility to ensure it is planned properly. We still have two years to fully endorse and understand the dog parks.
“I am against us doing it without all the information.”
He said communities without footpaths and using damaged roads was the reason for his objection to the recommendation.
Cr Adrian Weston said, while he appreciated Cr Jarman’s comments in regard to the merits of allocating funds to a pair of “not shovel-ready projects’’, council had two years to deliver on the dog parks.
Cr Pentreath said she was voting against including the dog parks in the recommendation because there was not enough detail.
“At the moment we are still in the dark. We don’t go ahead and fund something we don’t fully understand,” she said.
Cr Marwood said he was also troubled by the fact council did not have the costings for the dog parks.
“It would be prudent to do the work, understand the costs, understand the location and then make a decision after obtaining that information,” he said.
Cr Chrissy Weller said council had completed a dog park at Echuca East and had some indicative costs through what was done there.
Cr John Zobec said, looking at the items and the projects, he had no problem with them.
“We have to look after our little doggies. They are our best friends,” he said.
