Willow Court funds under scrutiny

A SPECIAL meeting will be held to analyse every detail of the expenditure of funds intended for the redevelopment of the Willow Court historic site. The move was one of a raft of measures put forward by new councillor Damian Bester at his first council meeting last month. Cr Bester consented to a minor amendment by Cr Jim Elliott which saw the term "line-by-line analysis" replaced with "an analysis", and the amendment was then supported by all councillors with the exception of Cr Barry Lathey who had declared an interest and left the meeting room.

In debate, Cr Elliott said it would be "quite interesting" if councillors were tied up for a week conducting the review. He suggested that Cr Bester should provide a precis of his own investigation of the financials, as a line-by-line analysis would be a lengthy process. In contrast, Cr Scott Shaw said it may be necessary for a series of meetings to be held. A lot of new information would be brought forward, he said.

Deputy mayor Craig Farrell said a close look at the Willow Court financial report was warranted. He said the council was now in a position to seek funding for the heritage property and future funds would have to be managed "properly and responsibly".

Cr James Graham said he had been asked many questions about Willow Court during the recent election campaign. He supported a review of the financial report, no matter how long it took.