Eltham War Memorial to be extended before Anzac Day

THE Montmorency-Eltham RSL sub-branch will extend the Eltham War Memorial after a heated battle with Nillumbik Council.

The Eltham Monty RSL wants to extend the Eltham cenotaph in time for the 2015 Anzac Day dawn service but some local community groups aren't happy with its plans. Bill McKenna, president of the Eltham Monty RSL with the current war memorial. Picture : Adam Elwood

THE Montmorency-Eltham RSL sub-branch will extend the Eltham War Memorial after a heated battle with Nillumbik Council.

Cr Michael Young said councillors met RSL sub-branch president Bill McKenna and RSL Victorian president Major General David McLachlan recently to discuss the extension.

The extension is expected to be finished before Anzac Day and will be built with $84,000 of the $100,000 set aside for Eltham projects following the sale of the former Eltham RSL sub-branch site.

Cr Young said the council would contribute $60,000 to build the legally-required disability access ramp and some of the landscaping.

“This is a fantastic result for the residents of Eltham,” he said.

Mr McKenna said the sub-branch had decided to go ahead with the plans after talks with Maj-Gen McLachlan.

Mr McKenna said the sub-branch would build the terrace, a raised platform with a grassed area and a memorial commemorating the women who served.

He said the sub-branch was ­expecting between 7000 and 8000 people at the Anzac centenary service next year.

“I think (the memorial) is an eyesore and it would have been like that for the foreseeable future,” he said.

“But by doing the park we are going to have a permanency there.”

Nillumbik councillors approved plans for the extension to the Eltham War Memorial on October 14, but the sub-branch refused to agree to build it because of a dispute over different aspects of the plan.

Mayor Helen Coleman said at the time that the plan approved on October 14 came from the RSL.

Maj-Gen McLachlan said the agreement was “a good thing for Eltham, a good thing for the RSL and a good thing for the community.”