Weddin Shire Council have voted in support of exploring the options of constructing more public seating in Grenfell's Main Street near IGA.
After discussions, Council voted to that Council consider the purchase of an additional bench seat outside the IGA in the next budget process and continue to seek grants for the purchase of two bench tables with bench seating for the Main Street.
Councillor Colleen Gorman brought the motion to Council and said reading the thorough information and research undertaken by the Acting General Manager and his team, she is a bit shocked by the cost.
Cr Gorman said the $8500 for two tables and bench seats is a bit more than she was expecting, and she noted that due to the ground sloping they do need concrete slabs to make it level and safer to install.
"I realize and I do accept the fact that ultimately we're going to have to apply for a grant for that, and I am not sure if the actual fencing or the protection bollards are something which the Councillors will decide we have to have as well, because that significantly ups the price," she said.
Latest Stories
Cr Gorman said she would like to move that they immediately start seeking funding for these tables and bench seats, and that they use available funds to purchase another seat for outside IGA as this was a big priority for a lot of the aged citizens in the town.
While there is a seat already there, Cr Gorman said it is a little bit wonky, and while she is not saying they should replace that too, she thinks having a second seat outside IGA that should be a priority.
Mayor Paul Best said this is quite an expense and making these decisions out of the budgetary process makes it hard for the Council staff to pull $8-$9000 from the budget for this.
Cr Best said he understands the engineering staff are trying to protect council's interest by putting all the bollards up, and that maybe with bit more research Council could come up with this slightly cheaper solution,
This, Cr Best said, could be putting the tables further away from road so as to not need bollards, and if businesses along Main Street wanted to put tables out, they could, subject to approval.
Councilor Wezley Makin said looking at surrounding towns, with similar seating around pedestrian crossings they have fencing and bollards up to prevent that one in a million accident.
Councillor Simon Rolls asked if the bollards were going to go in front of the verandah posts as well, or just to protect the seating area.
Acting General Manager Luke Sheehan said the idea was just to protect that area and not put more bollards in front of the verandah posts.
Mr Sheehan said the pricing that was included in the report is for the seating which was installed in Taylor Park, to try and have that consistency, but there may be different pricing if they got a seat to match the ones in Main Street, but he didn't think the pricing would be too different.
Cr Gorman said she would want to move that Council consider getting a new seat based on the design the Council staff have put in the report as they would not have recommended it if it wasn't going to blend in with the seat designs already along Main Street.
Cr Best highlighted the initial motion was to investigate the purchase of the chair, rather than actually purchase at this stage, and proposed they include the purchase of suitable seating in the next budget so they can actually allocate the funds through the budget process.
