Liam McNally
Melton council will donate $10,000 to support the community affected by the May 16 school bus crash on Exford Road.
At the beginning of the council meeting on Monday, May 29, Melton mayor Lara Carli reflected on behalf of council.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the students, their families, the Exford primary school, the school community, and everyone impacted by this incident,” she said.
“The news of the serious and life altering injuries sustained in the crash has deeply saddened all of us at council, and we acknowledge the immense challenges and difficult times that the local school community is facing as a result of this unfortunate incident.”
Cr Carli extended “sincere gratitude” to the first responder’s “tireless” support.
“Their unwavering dedication and efforts are highly commendable and we appreciate their contribution immensely,” she said.
Cr Carli said she had reached out to to Exford Primary School principal Lisa Campo and conveyed gratitude for her “strong leadership during this time of adversity”.
Later in the meeting, Cr Sophie Ramsay moved for council to donate $10,000 to support the recovery efforts of those impacted by the bus crash.
“[This event] has touched all of our lives, we can’t even fathom what these children and their families and the school community as a whole – what everybody saw on the day and so this is our small part in starting our support of them through their recovery effort,” she said.
Cr Steve Abboushi said the money “won’t do the cause justice” but it’s something council can do to “demonstrate our support and our deep commitment to these residents and their families”.
“This is going to be a long journey for these families, it’s going to be deeply and widely felt and my heart breaks for these families and their children … but it’s a small way that we can help,” he said.
Council will liaise with Exford Primary School principal Lisa Campo about how best to expend the funds.
