Cr John Zobec is critical of the planning process.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
A Campaspe Shire councillor has expressed his frustrations about the outcome of the Wilf Cox Pavilion discussions at a recent council meeting.
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Tension could be cut with a knife at the February 18 Campaspe Shire Council meeting — the first of the year, and one that left Cr John Zobec puzzled.
Council’s determination to proceed with upgrades to the Wilf Cox Pavilion in Kyabram, despite significant community opposition, was the primary source of controversy.
The original plan centred on a $1 million Victorian Government grant aimed at promoting equity and inclusion by creating change rooms for female players and umpires — facilities currently absent at the reserve.
The council committed a further $2.2 million contingent on the state grant.
However, several user groups argued that the proposed upgrades were insufficient to address all the facility’s needs and requested council postpone its decision for further consultation.
A tiebreaker vote pushed the plans forward, to the disappointment of not only the crowd of over 60 community members gathered in the chambers that day, but Cr Zobec himself.
Speaking with the Free Press, Cr Zobec said he didn’t know how the plans for Wilf Cox were formed.
“(Council) never had a discussion about what the committee wants, or what suited them,” he said.
Kyabram’s Wilf Cox Pavilion.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
Cr Zobec criticised the planning process, stating that councillors were provided with only a single, inadequate A4-sized plan “you had to magnify 10 times to see anything”.
“I am disgusted at the appearance of the pavilion when (Kyabram Football Netball Club) is of the top teams of the GVL,” he said.
“The players, they just put up with it.”
Regarding the possibility of a second stage of improvements as proposed in the recommendation, Cr Zobec expressed scepticism about its likelihood.
He emphasised that while the kitchen, roof, air-conditioning and toilets all required refurbishment, he doubted these essential upgrades would be carried out.
“The Echuca central councillors will bury Kyabram, and there will not be a part two,” Cr Zobec said.
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