Council Minutes - Section 3: Notice of Motion - 28 September 2021

Contents | Previous Page: Section 2 - Reports | Next Page: Section 4 - Record of Informal Meetings of Councillors

Notice of Motion tabled at the Ordinary Meeting of Council on 28 September 2021 which was Virtual meeting livestreamed on our website.


3.1 Notice of Motion - Councillor Grzybek

Fair Play Strategy

Background

In 2017, Council adopted the Fair Play Strategy. The strategy was developed after significant consultation with a range of sporting groups over a 12-month period.

The Fair Play Strategy adopted a clear arrangement for how Council will support sporting clubs across Geelong. This strategy put in place a suite of measures and settings that ensure the City of Greater Geelong provides significant in-kind and financial support to over 300 volunteer-run sporting clubs across the municipality.

The strategy has now been in place for 4 years.

One area of the strategy that this Notice of Motion seeks to reconsider is in regard to sports lighting. There are many items that are deemed ‘standard’ items under the Fair Play Strategy which means Council is directly responsible for providing and maintaining these items at minimal cost to the clubs, these include pavilions, playing surfaces, etc.

At present sports lighting is identified in the Fair Play Strategy as a ‘non-standard‘ item. This means that the club is responsible for the maintenance and cost of running sports lights. The club is also responsible for seeking and gaining funding for any significant upgrade to lights through our existing community grants program.

Benchmarking recently undertaken by the City and provided to Councillors indicates that Council’s current strategy is not the same as many major metropolitan Councils’, where many other municipalities essentially treat sports lights as a standard item for which the Council is responsible.

Sports lighting has over the last number of years become a more important item for our clubs as many of them grow and need to train and use their sports field later into the evenings to accommodate more and more people playing sport. The cost of maintaining sports lights can be quite significant for some clubs, and particularly if something goes wrong and lighting needs to be replaced or upgraded.

Support for this Notice of Motion would indicate an intention for Council to reconsider its current strategy position, however before doing so, requests the Chief Executive Officer to undertake work that would help Council understand the potential benefits and impacts to clubs and Council, should Council wish to change the current strategy for sport lighting, and make it a standard item that Council provides and maintains, rather than a non-standard item that places the burden of maintaining the sports lights on the clubs.


Resolution - Item 3.1

Cr Grzybek moved, Cr Aitken seconded -

That Council:

  1. Request the Chief Executive Officer to undertake a review of Council’s Fair Play Strategy 2017 to assess the impact of sports lighting being recognised as a ‘standard item’ under the policy, with a report to be presented to Council by March 2022 that will consider:

    1. the benefits and impacts (including financial considerations) on sporting clubs arising from such a change in policy;

    2. the benefits and impacts (including financial considerations) on Council arising from such a change in policy;

    3. the implications and changes for clubs’ roles and responsibilities toward the future maintenance and upgrading of sports light across the municipality; and

    4. the implications and changes for Council’s roles and responsibilities toward the future maintenance and upgrading of sports light across the municipality.

Carried.


Contents | Previous Page: Section 2 - Reports | Next Page: Section 4 - Record of Informal Meetings of Councillors

City of Greater Geelong