Murrihy defends controversial funding flip motion, says council officers did not provide reasons why Hamlyn Park was their preferred option

Former mayor Peter Murrihy has claimed councillors were left in the dark as to why Hamlyn Park was recommended for grant funding over Elderslie Reserve, claiming councillors were not provided with the council officers’ reasoning.

Former mayor Peter Murrihy personally acknowledged Bell Park FNC president Jeff Jarvis by name when endorsing the 2023 Hamlyn Park masterplan in May, before overruling advice to fund female changerooms at the club last month.

A former Geelong mayor has defended his controversial last-minute motion to switch funding for local sporting projects to a club where he was once the coach, in a move that was against council officers’ recommendations.

Councillor Peter Murrihy has accused critics of “playing the man, not the ball” after he put forward an alternate motion to fund Newtown and Chilwell’s Elderslie Reserve rather than Bell Park’s Hamlyn Park. The move also increased council’s financial contribution. The motion passed six votes to three.

Mr Murrihy coached Newtown in the late 1990s.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Mr Murrihy broke his silence after weeks of repeatedly failing to respond to questions from the Addy.

Mr Murrihy defended the choice, stating he believed he had no conflict of interest, prompting laughter from the gallery.

“I want this on public record. I firmly believe I have no conflict of interest to declare,” Mr Murrihy said.

Mr Murrihy also claimed councillors were left in the dark as to why Hamlyn Park was recommended for grant funding over Elderslie Reserve, claiming councillors were not provided with the council officers’ reasoning.

Mr Murrihy said his decision came down to a desire to “fix what we have”.

Elderslie Reserve has a netball pavilion, albeit ageing and built under a 2008 masterplan, while Bell Park does not.

The Elderslie Reserve project would upgrade the club’s football pavilion to make the changerooms female friendly.

“Yes, I coached at the club 25, 26 years ago, for two seasons,” he said.

“I was not a Newtown player, I’ve never been on a committee there, I have no influence over the club, have nothing to gain personally from any decision about funding received by the club.”

Mr Murrihy said the council group had been informed “weeks before” council’s February meeting that both Elderslie Reserve and Hamlyn Park had been short-listed.

“A straw poll by the mayor was taken to see which was the preferred project,” Mr Murrihy said.

Mr Murrihy said councillors “never got to see the matrix used” by council officers to make their recommendation.

The Geelong Advertiser reported that Mr Murrihy attempted to have the item moved to the confidential segment of the meeting.

Mr Murrihy said he fully supported the Hamlyn Park masterplan and would do “everything in (his) power” to lobby for it to be funded.

“There seem to be many mistruths, or untrue statements made over the preceding few weeks in relation to what occurred, and to those who have sent messages, sent emails and commented on social media and played the man, not the ball, this has taken its toll on me,” he said.

Melissa Cadwell, who seconded Mr Murrihy’s motion, also read a prepared statement.

She said the decision was “no different” to when residents ask councillors to reject recommendations council officers have made.

The Hamlyn Park masterplan, endorsed by council in May 2023. Picture: City of Greater Geelong

Earlier in the meeting, Bell Park supporters asked questions about City Hall’s processes.

Club president Jeff Jarvis said they felt the decision lacked transparency.

“(It) doesn’t provide councillors and stakeholders to come together in a proper forum to debate and discuss the merits of a particular project,” he said.

Ms Cadwell said she had “taken steps” to make council’s grant application processes and sporting club infrastructure more transparent.

“I believe sporting clubs deserve some certainty about where they sit in the pipeline of infrastructure projects and what they can expect from council,” she said.

Ms Cadwell revealed that Geelong MP Christine Couzens advocated for Elderslie Reserve, giving the project her “full backing”.

Newtown president Shaun McWilliam said the club had “gone through the right processes” and agreed that Mr Murrihy hadn’t had “any real role” at the club.

He said the club had missed out on grant funding to upgrade its football pavilion for several years.

“We’ve been talking about this (upgrade) for eight years,” he said.

“We’ve applied for grants consistently, we’ve knocked on doors, we’ve gone through the right processes.

“We don’t deserve the money more than anyone else … we’re all trying to look after our own club, but not at the detriment of anybody else.”

Originally published as Murrihy defends controversial funding flip motion, says council officers did not provide reasons why Hamlyn Park was their preferred option