A MOORABOOL councillor has threatened to dump a shipping container behind Bacchus Marsh Primary School to stop children using an adjacent recreation reserve.
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Email correspondence seen by The Courier details tactics used by councillor Tonia Dudzik – chairwoman of the Masons Lane Reserve Committee of Management (COM).
“Unless you want a fence built blocking access or a shed or storage container placed in front of the gates so you can not access the grounds I suggest you reconsider,” Cr Dudzik said in an email after the school refused to pay the COM $1200 per year to access the public reserve.
About 900 children attend Bacchus Marsh primary school, which has little to no recreational facilities.
In the email, Cr Dudzik goes on to say she felt $300 per term was a “good deal” for the school and “if not accepted the Masons Lane committee are likely to be as angry as your school council”.
Cr Dudzik said inadequately supervised children, who use the reserve daily, had been seen swinging off soccer goals at the grounds.
“We’ve had issues with contractors mowing - kids have been out playing when they’re trying to mow the grass,” she said.
Cr Dudzik said the COM allowed the school to use the reserve in June providing the school paid a fee, which would be negotiated with Moorabool Shire Council.
In October the school reneged on its promise to pay a fee, according to Cr Dudzik, who described the $1200 offer from the COM as a “bargain compared to what council wanted to charge”.
Cr Dudzik believed Moorabool Shire Council wanted to charge the school $500 per term to use the
reserve. “To say ‘no we’re just going to use it regardless is just rude’,” she said.
Four sporting clubs use the Masons Lane Reserve and pay an annual management fee, but Cr Dudzik couldn’t confirm how much this was.
“All these teams count on the ground being in top condition when they play their matches,” she said.
Cr Dudzik said a letter from Moorabool Shire Council on behalf of the COM has been
sent to the school absolving the COM of public liability for children injured on the reserve.