DEBATE has heated up over a home for the Doreen RSL.
Court of people power – that’s where the City of Whittlesea is heading for a verdict over the use of Doreen’s Brookwood Community Centre.
The council is seeking feedback from residents, regular hirers, and the wider community on a proposal to lease only a part of the centre to the Doreen RSL, and keeping the rest for community use, as decided at its April 21 meeting.
But in a tough message, Federal Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell last Friday called on the council to stop the delays and support the Doreen RSL.
“I am committed to delivering a proper home for the Doreen RSL, for its members and for our community,” Mr Mitchell said.
“I don’t want to see this important project go the way of the Mernda Pool, with endless consultation by the City of Whittlesea that ends up delivering nothing for our community.
“For over a decade since former Cr John Butler pushed the City of Whittlesea to provide assistance to the RSL to establish a home, the council have dragged their feet.”
In April last year, the Federal Government committed $1.6 million for the establishment of a permanent base for the Doreen RSL at the council-owned Brookwood Community Centre on Hazel Glen Drive.
The centre operates as a community facility, offering three spaces for casual and regular hire, with nine regular hirers at present.
Mr Mitchell said if the City of Whittlesea is serious about supporting the veterans, it would be spending more time delivering a real solution on this and less on forcing veterans to justify access to what the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide has called an essential service.
“Through their preferred option, the council is deliberately setting the RSL up to fail,” Mr Mitchell said.
“The City of Whittlesea have been disingenuous in the way they have dealt with the RSL and it is beyond disappointing that council has decided at the eleventh hour to again abandon our veteran community who just want a place to call home.
“If the City of Whittlesea thinks they can act as an overbearing parent and prohibit veterans from watching sport socially in their own RSL, they misunderstand the freedoms our veterans have fought for. It’s beyond parody.
“Community assets must be for appropriate community use, and preferring use by a commercial business over providing a proper home to the RSL is not only misguided but also shows just how out of touch this council is. Ratepayers deserve much better.
“It has become typical of the City of Whittlesea to blame community groups for the council’s failure to ensure we have adequate facilities to support our growing community. Community groups shouldn’t be forced to fight over the scraps.”
Doreen RSL President Wes Wridgway told the Review: “Only being offered part of the premises is not ideal for the RSL. To be honest we have already outgrown a space that size, but let’s see what happens during the community consultation process.”
Mr Wridgway said the RSL would just like a premises of its own where the veterans can meet and socialise and feel safe.
“At the moment we only meet once a week at somebody else’s facility and have nowhere to go on any other day,” he said.
The Doreen RSL, formed in 2017, has 250 members, and meets at the Laurimar Sporting Club every Friday night. The 2021 census showed there were more than 600 veterans in the Doreen and Mernda areas, and they could benefit from the Doreen RSL facilities, Mr Wridgway said.
Mayor Lawrie Cox said the council’s preferred option for the Brookwood Community Centre aims to meet the needs of both the Doreen RSL and the wider community through a shared use arrangement of the centre.
Anyone providing feedback can also have their submission heard at a Hearing of Submissions Committee Meeting on June 11 in South Morang.
Following the consultation period, a report will be prepared and presented at the July 21 council meeting for a decision.
Community members can also provide feedback at engage.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/brookwoodleasing from now until May 31.