Summary
I reported on the 60-year celebration of the Knox Historical Society at Miller Homestead, and the Knox Sport and Leisure Awards, where I presented the unsung hero awards. From the police safety forum, my main takeaway was that police want residents to use Crime Stoppers as the primary reporting tool. I raised the idea of a new community safety committee of Council, and passed on the Rowville Men's Shed's call for community projects.
Transcript
Edited from the meeting's auto-generated captions.
On Wednesday just gone, it was a privilege and an honour to attend the 60-year celebration of the Knox Historical Society at Miller Homestead in Boronia. It really was a wonderful afternoon as we learned more about, and discussed, the remarkable contribution of preservation, conservation and promotion of our local history in Knox and its previous iterations. And I brought along this beautiful booklet that was put together by Secretary Karin Orpen and President Ray Peace. It's a beautiful publication and was made possible with a minor grant from Council, I think of about two and a half thousand, to provide for its printing. So that's one that I'll keep in the memory box for years to come.
I too attended the Knox Sport and Leisure Awards. It was a wonderful evening, I think perhaps the best Council event I've been to this term. It was wonderful to feel that sense of mateship and leadership, and see our young up-and-coming sports stars sitting right alongside people that won awards for 40 and 50 years of service. It was a great night, and I'd just give a special shout out to the Knox Dog Obedience Club, which received the coveted Club of the Year award. KDOC, as it's known, has more than 750 active members. It's got a fierce community focus and is the only not-for-profit dog obedience club in Knox.
And as Councillor Kennett said, there were so many deserving winners, young and old, on the night, and it was a real pleasure of mine to present what I think of as the unsung hero awards: the heroes of our clubs who have dedicated 20, 30, 40, even 50 years, in the case of Kay and Mick Kimmitt from Boronia Hawks Football Club. Fifty years of service from Kay and Mick to their club, but so many others that have volunteered and gone above and beyond in the service of their clubs over several decades. So a big thank you to all the Knox staff that helped put that event together.
I attended the police safety forum on Thursday the 12th of June with Councillor Kennett. One of my takeaways was the repeat recommendation of our police to use Crime Stoppers as a primary reporting tool. It's always possible to go into stations and report things. But even for things like antisocial behaviour or speeding issues that you might perceive in your street or surrounds, they really drummed into attendees that Crime Stoppers is still the best way for them to collect that intelligence and have it passed on. I was asking, on behalf of residents in Tirhatuan, what is the best way to raise with police concerns about antisocial behaviour in parks or areas, or a sense that a street might have a problem with speeding, and Crime Stoppers was their number one suggestion as part of a few different tools. That stuck with me.
And I think it's maybe time to consider a new community safety committee of Council. Councillor Kennett and I talked about that with police on the night. There's a real appetite on behalf of police to better align with Council and support each other's efforts, particularly around youth engagement, and I think there's a big gap for Council to do more in that space. So I look forward to progressing that. On the same day I chaired a meeting of the Community Safety, Health and Wellbeing Advisory Committee.
And I just note, on the 10th of June, councillors had a presentation here from the Rowville Men's Shed. It was fantastic to welcome them to the Civic Centre, and I know Councillor Pearce, and I think the Mayor, supported the Men's Shed attending Council to present to us, to give us a brief on the incredible work they're doing across our community. Not only on the tools in fixing things, but also in mental health prevention and just proactively staying engaged with so many in our community. And the call-out was made, and I've passed it on to several primary schools in Tirhatuan Ward, that they're looking for more to do, looking to engage with community groups. So I encourage anyone that's part of a community group that has something that needs fixing or needs building, or that they need help with, to think about contacting the Rowville Men's Shed.
So it's been a busy month in Tirhatuan Ward, but I'll leave it there. Thank you, Mayor.