Who voted which way?

By Andrea Ross

Here’s the rundown: Councillor Cropley started the ball rolling quick smart by supporting the closing and demolition of the Chewton Pool. I read somewhere she was quoted as saying that council officers are the ‘experts’ (I think in relation the Maldon bank fiasco) and that councillors need to be guided by their information. So she voted to demolish.

Councillor Rewell got a rousing ovation when he somewhat unexpectedly voted against the closure – saying that he was not convinced by the engineers’ report that the Chewton Pool was beyond repair.

Councillor Henderson voted against the closure – in reponse to the overwhelming reponses from Chewton and sources she had read, and heard in relation to the debate. She did say something alluding to the fact that pools are like cars – eventually, no matter how much you love them – they reach the end of their useful life. She stopped short of the most obvious response to a dead car – is a good management plan to replace it when that sad day comes!

Councillor Acklom voted against the closure and demolition of the Chewton Pool. Whilst he stated that he was usually a very ‘practical’ decision-maker he could not ignore the will of his electorate.

Councillor Cross voted for demolition. She did a patronising ‘let them eat cake’ type comment which said the council should clear the land – and enter negotiations with those wonderful people of Chewton to discuss what they wanted there … eh, crivens …. in a Town Hall full of Chewton residents, who had just spent nearly an hour telling the council LOUD and CLEAR what they wanted the space to be used for.

Councillor Redden voted for the demolition.
Mayor Scheir voiced superlatives for the Aquatic facility early on in the evening so it was clear that a vote in favour of the cafe latte and creche set: would dictate that the Chewton Pool has to go. Unmoved that a group of Chewton children lose out from that, or that their parents as ratepayers would be forced to subsidise the Castlemaine ‘aspirational swimmers and hot tubbies’. Kids don’t vote, so they don’t matter.

Why do they call it ‘question time’ or ‘debate’ – when no-one answers the questions – and everyone’s mind is made up before they begin?