Summary
I reported on the Knox Community Awards 2026, where I sat on the assessment panel with Councillor Williams. This year drew 33 individual nominees and nine organisations, and a further 40 residents were recognised for years of service. I also noted the Your Library board meeting, correspondence about traffic and parking around Rowville and Scoresby primary schools, older footpaths around Stud Park Shopping Centre, and thanked Grayson Drive residents for their respectful and thorough feedback.
Transcript
Edited from the meeting's auto-generated captions.
Thank you, Mayor. And I'll start on one that's been mentioned a couple of times but deserves repeating. I attended the Knox Community Awards 2026 on Wednesday night. It's in its third year now, I think, and a fantastic night on which we recognise all the incredible volunteers that put their names forward. This year drew 33 individual nominees and nine organisations, and a further 40 residents were recognised for their years of service, 10 of them for contributing more than 40 years, which we've heard.
I sat on the assessment panel alongside Councillor Williams, and we joined five award recipients from last year. So we had a front row look at the high calibre of application that was received, and it made judging and deciding very difficult. Richard Faragher was named Volunteer of the Year, recognising more than 25 years protecting Knox's natural environment. Foothills Community Care was named Organisation of the Year for its work supporting residents facing food insecurity, homelessness, isolation and financial hardship. And the panel also awarded five special honours awards, recognising volunteers that spanned chess, music, netball, mahjong and emergency services.
So my congratulations to every recipient, and also thanks to the officers who prepared the evaluation material for the panel. We found it a very professional and thorough process, as it is every year, but particularly so this year. We enjoyed the process.
On the 30th of April, I attended the Your Library board meeting as Deputy Chair of the Your Library board. We're continuing our work on governance and planning for the year ahead and the years ahead. I just thought I'd record my attendance this evening.
And some local issues I'm picking up. I've had some correspondence quite recently about traffic and parking around Rowville Primary School and Scoresby Primary School, particularly at drop-off and pick-up time, which I intend to raise with the relevant officers. And I've also had some correspondence about some of the older footpaths that are surrounding and inside the Stud Park Shopping Centre, which is a mobility issue for some of the residents at Peppertree Hill Retirement Village there next to Stud Park. So, I'll be raising that one too, and we'll keep those residents updated as I go.
And just to quickly note, sorry, Mayor, before I wrap: just to note the correspondence from residents in Grayson Drive and surrounding streets in Scoresby. The correspondence has been received, some this week and in previous weeks and months as well. And I just wanted to thank the residents for the time they've taken to write very respectfully and with thorough insight to their lived experience. The views that you've shared have helped inform the position I'm taking on that application tonight. So I just wanted to acknowledge that too.
Thank you, Mayor.