File Photo: Ray Hutchinson in his days as a Yea Councillor and Kinglake SES volunteer
9 years on, bushfire memorials approved. Ex-Cr blasts Council
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Nine years on from the Black Saturday fires, Murrindindi Shire Council has voted to spend $500,000 on construction of bushfire memorials.
In a secret section of Council’s meeting on November 22, Councillors voted to accept the tender from Fineblade Pty Ltd for the lump sum price of $501,142.00 (excluding GST), for the Murrindindi Bushfire Memorials – Construction.
The motion was put by Deputy Mayor Cr Sandice McAulay and Cr Eric Lording.
At the January 24 Council meeting held at Yea last week, Councillors voted to release the information to the public.
The Council says the “project construction can be fully funded from grant funds to the value of $513,142, plus a contingency amount to be funded from the balance of the Murrindindi Assistance Package”.
Meanwhile, a former Yea Shire Councillor, Ray Hutchinson, has hit out at the delays and secrecy surrounding the memorials.
“This saga has gone on for far too long and, after nine years, ought to go through an audit by the Local Government Department,” Mr Hutchinson wrote on the website, www.LocalPaper.com.au
“In those nine long years individuals have travelled overseas on the funds to “study” other memorials (all of which could be viewed online) and various surveys and designs have floated past Design Committees.
“Meanwhile other Municipalities have constructed and dedicated their monuments to remember those lost on Black Saturday with some uniquely Australian efforts.
“For Murrindindi Council to be still meeting behind closed doors and discussing even further how to stretch the funds is an insult to those who passed and demonstrates a poor level of governance by all involved.
“An audit of Council and its handling of this project ought to be the least the community should expect plus an adoption of a ‘can do’ attitude to progress the project immediately should be every Councillor’s immediate goal.
“In memory of those who died and those who carry the scars of that day seeking a place to remember this ought to be built now without bureaucratic interference,” Mr Hutchinson said.