Before the close of 2024, Ku-ring-gai Council spent the majority of the year’s final General Meeting debating a $2,300 grant.
Despite the relatively minuscule amount, the issue caused a stir between councillors, and the grant approval process was called into question.
The crux of the argument came when Councillors Jeff Pettett and Cedric Spencer, who did not agree that specific approved grant funds should blindly be deferred to other expenses.
In April 2024, not-for-profit organisation SHARE applied for funding to host a Diwali celebration in Ku-ring-gai. Though SHARE has headquarters out of the electorate in Hurstville, and despite the organisation specialising in private exercise classes to seniors over 50, the grant was approved unanimously by councillors in October.
As Diwali fell in the beginning of November 2024, the tight window meant the event did not come to pass. Instead, SHARE sought approval to transfer the $2,300 grant to their upcoming Holi event, planned for March 2025.
Council staff traditionally deal with such matters, but as Councillor Barbara Ward is on the board for SHARE and declared a conflict, the matter was brought to Council.
Cr Spencer was against approving the deferral, stating in the December meeting, ‘Each grant is assessed accordingly based on certain criteria, every grant is different, every event is different… There is no application for a grant for Holi. We are jumping the gun, we are preapproving for something that someone has not applied [for].’
Cr Pettett reflected the same reservations as Cr Spencer, further into the meeting stating, ‘Was this ever an event that was actually going to happen? We don’t know… This particular organisation doesn’t hold these sorts of events, it is a not-for-profit organisation looking after the health and wellbeing of seniors.’
Councillor Martin Smith moved an amendment to have the staff recommendation of allowing deferral to become the motion, arguing that the grant application indeed went through a rigorous process. Further, Cr Smith spoke to SHARE holding two past Diwali events, and being relevant to the community as, at one point, the organisation conducted exercise classes in Lindfield.
After over an hour of debate about a single grant worth $2,300, the motion to approve the deferral was carried, only opposed by Cr Spencer, Cr Pettett, and Mayor Christine Kay. This is quick work for a council that spent two years debating a park bench.
