THE sound of a lone bugle interrupted the start of last week’s Frankston Council meeting amid a protest over delays to the relocation of the city’s war memorial.
Protesters in the public gallery were unhappy the topic of the war memorial was removed from the June council meeting agenda and had gathered to make their feelings known to the assembled councillors.
Frankston City Band bugler Neville Lloyd stood up in the public viewing area and played The Last Post as councillors stood up to recite The Lord’s Prayer. Several band members sat with Mr Lloyd in the public gallery.
Band president Terri Bullock told The Times they hoped “to stir the councillors into action”.
“They’ve been busy talking about it for too long…it was time to make them aware action is needed,” she said.
The relocation of Frankston’s war memorial from Davey St to Beauty Park has become embroiled in debate over who should fund the project, which has an estimated cost of about $1.4 million (‘Memorial in doubt’, The Times, 16/6/14).
Councillors decided to discuss the matter at last week’s meeting after Cr Glenn Aitken introduced an urgent notice of motion to the meeting agenda.
After lengthy debate, councillors were unable to “formalise support for the Beauty Park project” despite unanimously agreeing a new war memorial was required.
Councillors remain divided over the final design and cost of the new war memorial.
Frankston Council issued a statement after last week’s meeting claiming “the original projected cost – $1.4 million – had not escalated as reported in the media.”
The memorial relocation was uncosted when councillors unanimously agreed to support the project last year. Sources have advised The Times a figure of $300,000 had been mooted at that point.
Councillors agreed to support the project at the time. The federal government has committed $100,000 to the relocation and Frankston RSL has pledged $125,000 spread over ten years, mostly to be used to maintain the new memorial.
The mayor, Cr Darrel Taylor, has allocated $5000 from the discretionary mayoral fund.
A “saucer-shaped” design for the memorial coupled with an Avenue of Honour had seen the project costs ultimately come in at about $1.4 million.
Stage one would cost about $500,000 with several councillors reluctant to commit to the project before it is fully funded.
When questioned after last week’s council meeting, Cr Taylor said the $300,000 figure had been “floating somewhere out in the ether” and “may have been discussed by the original committee” formed to discuss the project last year.
Cr Taylor was “surprised” at the playing of The Last Post at last week’s council meeting.
“They’re [the Frankston City Band] are pretty passionate about it,” he said.
Mrs Bullock said the band played at the Anzac Day memorial commemorations at the Frankston war memorial each year and saw firsthand the need for its relocation to an area with more space for attendees.
“We play on the nature strip there and we’re almost in the gutter,” she said. “There are huge crowds there every year and they deserve better.”
Cr Taylor said it was now uncertain what would happen with the new war memorial proposal for Beauty Park “unless it comes back to us (council)”.
