Council immobile

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE 600 signatures of book-loving Greater Dandenong residents have failed to convince Greater Dandenong Council to this week give its Mobile Library service a lifeline.
Star reported last month that councillors had voted to shut down the Mobile Library by 20 December, putting an end to what some residents and schools say is a vital service to aid those who find it difficult to make it to either the Dandenong or Springvale libraries.
The council had previously voted to shut the service after an officer’s report revealed that 212 people were visiting the mobile library and it would cost $600,000 to upgrade the heavy hauler and trailer next year.
Of that figure, only 50 people using the mobile library did not use either Springvale or Dandenong libraries.
At Monday night’s meeting Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades put forward a notice of motion that urged the council to rethink its position on the Mobile Library.
It came after residents submitted a petition of 612 signatures urging the council to retain the Mobile Library, which has operated in the city for about 30 years.
A fiery debate ensued and the council was ultimately divided with a 6-5 vote rejecting the notice of motion and ensuring the service would indeed be closed on 20 December.
Keysborough resident Avtar Kaur, 48, said she was “disappointed and disillusioned” by the decision and she felt the council had not made the decision with residents’ best interests in mind.
Ms Kaur has gone as far as to call for wards to be scrapped in favour of a general representation system.
She said the current ward system meant councillors only cared about issues affecting their patch when voting on issues that affected an entire city.
“What I have found is if something affects their ward then they vote in favour of it, and if not, then they vote against it,” Ms Kaur said.
Ms Kaur has three children who have used the service’s Corrigan Road stop – and still do – for the past 11 years.
The Keysborough mother said without a car, it would be practically impossible to go to the city’s ‘static’ libraries.
“If I had to go to Dandenong Library I would have to walk up to Parkmore Shopping Centre, get on a bus to Dandenong then stop at the depot, and then walk up to the library,” she said.
“My daughter has a voracious appetite for books, so can you imagine me carrying all those heavy books back?”
Councillors Jim Memeti, Pinar Yesil, Roz Blades, Peter Brown and Youhorn Chea voted to support the mobile library, while Paul Donovan, Alan Gordon, Yvonne Herring, Sue Walton, John Kelly and Maria Sampey voted against it.
Cr Blades said those councillors had “torn the heart out” of the community and were busy looking at the bottom line instead of the impact the service’s removal would have on residents.
“They are disadvantaging disabled people, and those with no mobility to get to libraries,” she said.
“It’s just heartbreaking to hear people crying on the phone (about the loss of the service).”
The council is planning an alternative service that includes home delivery by use of smaller vans to housebound or isolated people.
But the service would require people to apply for it and meet certain criteria, which are yet to be announced.
Ms Kaur said residents planned to keep fighting to retain the Mobile Library and would seek to meet with council CEO John Bennie.