FEBRUARY 7, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
(Shawn Smits)
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Bell’s gone, the countdown over When the bells rang in the first day of their first term, 92 fresh-faced prep pupils, including Ruby and Willoh, eagerly made their way to their classrooms. The five-year-olds are the latest additions to Melton South Primary School and have settled in well, teacher Donna Teven says. “A lot of the children did a countdown to prep last year, which helped them settle in,” Ms Teven says. “They’ve been here before, so by the time they got to school, they knew the routine and where their playgrounds were.” The youngsters have Wednesdays off to help with the transition into 9am-3pm school life, but are expected to get onto a normal schedule in a month’s time. Sumeyya Ilanbey
EasterFest forced out By Sumeyya Ilanbey The future of the Bacchus Marsh EasterFest at Maddingley Park is in doubt after organisers said they can no longer afford to run the event. Moorabool council’s new park hire policy, which was approved four days after last year’s EasterFest, has banned amusement rides, markets and vehicles on site (other than for display purposes). Groups are also now required to pay $350 for a toilet cleaning fee, a flat $750 hire fee and a $500 bond, bringing up the total cost to $1600.
But the price is too exorbitant for EasterFest organisers, who previously paid a $350 hire fee and a $500 bond. For the past two years, the event has been held at Maddingley Park – the town’s largest public open space – with all money raised going to the Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital. Event co-organiser Dotty Hazell told Star Weekly while the event would still go ahead this year on a much smaller scale, the group would struggle to hold it anywhere other than Maddingley Park in the future. More than 2000 people have turned out to
the past two fundraisers, raising more than $7200 for the hospital’s urgent care department. Ms Hazell said after last year’s event, when a sprinkler was accidentally damaged by an amusement ride operator, the group was told rides would not be allowed back. “We weren’t even made aware of the sprinklers in the first place,” Ms Hazell said. “We weren’t given any maps letting us know what to look out for and where. “The policy doesn’t even say where the sprinklers are – there aren’t any maps attached to the policy.”
When Ms Hazell raised her concerns at last week’s council meeting, Moorabool council’s social and organisational development manager Danny Colgan said the hire fees were consistent with the costs borne by the council and park committee. He said repairs after the damage at a previous EasterFest had exceeded the $500 bond. This year’s EasterFest will run at Village Green, but Ms Hazell said she will meet with council officers in coming weeks to “negotiate a suitable resolution” for Maddingley Park’s new hire policy.