Ballarat councillor Amy Johnson has used social media to announce her intention to attempt to rescind a council decision to fly two councillors and an adviser to the World League of Historic Cities Conference in May.
Ms Johnson posted on her decision on her Facebook page ‘Councillor Amy Johnson’ on Friday evening.
“This afternoon I lodged a motion to rescind (overturn) the trip for three to Austria and Finland for the World League of Historic Cities Conference.
“The community have very clearly expressed that you do not support the trip, at least not in its current format, with three delegates, travelling business class. Therefore, I've put forward a motion to overturn the original decision, which will be debated and voted on at the council meeting on Wednesday night.
“The other councillors may vote to scrap the trip and then put forward something more palatable to the community, like only one representative going.”
The Courier spoke to Councillor Johnson on Saturday afternoon. She said she had listened to community concerns and acted accordingly. Ms Johnson said while she feels it is important for the city council to have a presence at the Vienna conference, it may not be necessary to send all three delegates. She had voted in favour of the trip earlier as its budget had not been announced, but now felt the cost was excessive.
She said she had put her position on the matter clearly to Mayor Des Hudson and interim CEO Frank Dixon. She understands no trip flights are yet booked.
