‘Another talk fest’: Ratepayers to fork out $120,000 for one-day Melbourne 2050 Town Hall summit
City of Melbourne is gearing up to host a one-day event for community groups to gather and plan for the future — but the grand scheme is coming at an almighty cost to ratepayers.
Victoria
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Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s Melbourne 2050 summit is aiming to come up with big ideas for the city’s future — but it also comes with a big cost.
Ratepayers will be forced to fork out $120,000 for the one-day summit at Town Hall, which will have between 500 and 700 participants from across the Melbourne community.
Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said community consultation was a good thing but it shouldn’t cost ratepayers significant amount of money.
“It’s very clear that Victorians are sick of talkfests and spending money on consultants,” he said.
“People want councils that focus on delivering and getting things done.”
Mr Hurlston said there was no need for an extravagant summit to understand what the community wants for Melbourne over the coming 25 years.
“That’s a lot of ratepayers’ money being spent,” he said.
“Isn’t this what they (City of Melbourne councillors) should be doing as part of their job?”
“Knowing what the community wants and needs should be the everyday role of any council.”
Mr Hurlston said the money allocated for the summit should be redirected to more important areas.
“Another talk fest that costs a lot of money isn’t the solution for the problems Melbourne is facing,” he said.
“Wouldn’t you rather see that money spend on an extra security guard to be patrolling the CBD?
“Didn’t Sally Capp already have a Covid recovery committee to get the city back on track? Where did that ever get to?”
The Melbourne 2050 Summit will be held on Friday, 9 May – between 9am and 5pm – and will “include presentations, group discussions and opportunities to share your ideas”, according to the council’s website.
The council is aiming to get an audience of people with “different ages, gender identities and cultural backgrounds” to be part of the summit.
Mr Reece said Melbourne was growing rapidly and it was important to plan to ensure “as many people can benefit from that growth as possible.”
“This change presents big opportunities, to create a better city and a better life for those who call Melbourne home.”
“This is a high-calibre event – attracting the best and brightest in Melbourne, including community groups, longstanding residents, local business owners and leaders, CEOs and government officials.”
“All ideas are welcome. This is a golden opportunity to cement our place as the world’s best and fairest city for the long term.”
Embarrassingly for Mr Reece, he tried to claim that the Melbourne 2050 summit would be “the biggest gathering Town Hall has ever seen”, when in 2019, Town Hall hosted around 2000 people for the retirement of ABC broadcaster Jon Faine – more than double the size of the summit.
A council spokeswoman said more than 700 people had registered to be part of the summit.
Originally published as ‘Another talk fest’: Ratepayers to fork out $120,000 for one-day Melbourne 2050 Town Hall summit
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