A Ballarat City Council officer’s report initially recommended only sending one councillor on a controversial ratepayer funded trip to Austria.
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The Courier understands the original report for the trip tabled at a confidential meeting earlier this year, recommended only sending mayor Des Hudson and general manager of people and communities Neville Ivey to the World League of Historical Cities (WLHC) conference in Vienna on June 7.
However, following a push by Ballarat heritage committee chair and councillor Samantha McIntosh the document was changed. In April, the council came under intense scrutiny for voting to send two councillors instead of one. But Cr McIntosh said it was crucial she attend as she had been head of the council’s heritage sector for almost a decade, while Cr Hudson was the leader of the city. Ballarat is one of seven global board members for the WLHC.
"If you need to fix a toilet you don't send an electrician, you send a plumber," she said. "It’s imperative we sent people, the right people with the right expertise on this trip to get the maximum benefit for Ballarat."
Cr McIntosh’s key focus will be learning about heritage trade skills which can be used to repair historic buildings. She said for years the heritage sector has been concerned about diminishing availability of skilled tradespeople able to use traditional skills to sensitively restore historic buildings.
“What we have done in the last eight years to increase understanding of Ballarat’s heritage has been phenomenal,” she said. “We love our history and we need to protect it but we also need to be developing the CBD in an appropriate way. This trip allows us to showcase Ballarat and seek guidance from the world’s heritage experts.”
Cr McIntosh is travelling to Venice after the conference to research Italy’s infill housing designs to gather ideas for architectural models for Ballarat’s CBD. She said she paid for overnight train trip from Vienna to Venice out of her own pocket.
The council forked out $13,500 to fly Cr Hudson and Mr Ivey to Austria and Finland while it was paid $3893 to send Cr McIntosh to Vienna. All were flying economy slashing almost $30,000 from the initially proposed business class trip. Cr McIntosh said council has always sent multiple representatives to WLHC conferences. The three left for Europe earlier this week.