A $5000 grant awarded to Bacchus Marsh Soccer Club for a temporary light tower sends the wrong message to the community, according to a Moorabool councillor.
The grant, from the council’s East Moorabool Recreation Reserve Fund, will be used to add mobile lighting for soccer training at Masons Lane Recreation Reserve.
The club will also contribute $5000.
Despite a report showing a surge in participation at the club in the past 18 months, Cr David Edwards said more money should be spent on open spaces to benefit a wider group of people.
“We have little open space [in Bacchus Marsh] and we will have none if we keep spending money like this,” he said.
“We have to consider how we use these funds; there’s no long-term benefit.”
However, Cr Tonia Dudzik said the council had a one-off chance to help pay for the lights.
“They’ve got this at a bargain,” she said.
