A BACCHUS Marsh community activist has called for better representation for residents.
John Spain said a fully functioning residents’ association would empower the community to communicate better with Moorabool Council over local issues such as the demolition of the old Bacchus Marsh library, annual budgets and increasing traffic in West Maddingley.
“Back in 2009, there was a lot of community angst about the library,” Mr Spain said.
“A functioning residents’ association would have seen what was in the pipeline.
“The community would have been better prepared, and council would have handled the process a lot better. It would be a good ongoing way of looking at what council is doing.
“We are seeing a lot of new households moving into Bacchus Marsh, and they are probably used to seeing these types of representative bodies.”
However, East Moorabool ward’s Cr Michael Tudball feared a residents’ association would simply be another lobby group with a narrow focus. “The fact of the matter is council engaged with a number of community groups about the library, both for and against,” he said. “Community groups are great, the more the merrier, but they need to have a purpose. Too often you have groups who are passionate about one or two things, which is great, but we have plenty of groups like that already.”
Mr Spain said he would like to see multiple residents’ associations representing different areas. “There should be representation for Maddingley, Darley, not just one group representing Bacchus Marsh or Moorabool,” he said. “People view things differently in different areas. We need groups that represent residents of specific areas, that communicates regularly with council.”
