Bendigo Advertiser letters to the editor

Given that a recent survey found crime the top concern of Victorians, we should look at what policies prevent it and also reduce reoffending. 

A leading body in the field is the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. It has found that more police do help reduce crime. But in its review of all the evidence, it found that  the provision of education and employment assistance to those in prison, help for those leaving prison to find jobs, and improving alcohol and other drug services and mental health services in the community had the greatest impact.

Ivan Kitt’s letter to the Bendigo Advertiser (“Athletics plan false start”) requires subtle corrections in a number of areas.

Firstly, the council has never owned the La Trobe University Athletics Complex facility and therefore is not buying it back.

In the late 1960s, early 1970s, athletics was conducted at the grass Tom Flood Sports Centre. It was limited in its size due to the external cycling track. By the mid-70s, a generous Huntly Shire resident donated land at Epsom to their council for the sole purpose of establishing an athletics track.

The Bendigo Regional Centre of Athletics, at its own costs, maintained and established shedding, stands etc, but it was left to the Huntly Shire to set aside funding for future track refurbishments.

This was not done and consequently the track surface hardened over time and became a safety risk to athletes. In October 1998, all athletic club members met with the then current mayor of Greater Bendigo, Barry Ackerman, at the Epsom facility.

I moved the motion that athletics re-locate to La Trobe’s Flora Hill facility. This motion was passed almost unanimously – there were only two (not a “small number of”) members who voted against the move, as mentioned by Ivan Kitt). Ivan Kitt was one of those two who voted against the move.

The first site at La Trobe was unsuitable so the current site near Cook Street and Retreat Road was settled upon with much assistance from the state government and the education departments at the time.

Between the athletics bodies of both senior and little athletics, the Greater Bendigo City Council and La Trobe University, funding of some $2.2 million constructed the synthetic track which was opened on December 4, 1999. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that council controversially sold off the former Epsom track without knowing the full facts about the original gifting of the land strictly for athletics.

Earlier this year and well before this current council, Athletics Bendigo approached council leading up to the 2016-17 budget, pointing out that major track refurbishments are required in order to return the facility to an international standard to attract future championships. Those refurbishments would ordinarily be split 50/50 with La Trobe University.

La Trobe University had more pressing educational issues to contend with and no longer was keen on supporting athletics. Hence council’s current negotiations on acquiring the land and with it the current facilities that will need mid-year budget review funding in the 2017-18 year.

Mr Kitt also mentions the Bendigo Advertiser article suggesting a second athletics track facility. This notion has come from “left field” but is plausible considering approximately 44 schools use the LUBAC facility.

As a councillor with a very strong interest and my firm’s active sponsorship of Athletics Bendigo, I declared a conflict of interest for the December 14 council meeting and stepped out of the debate, which was passed by the remaining eight councillors.