House cuts anger

Hamish Heard
Angry northern suburbs residents have claimed a $1 million taxpayer upgrade of Norlane Neighbourhood House has robbed them of community services.
They say the upgrade has left the community with virtually no courses, leaving the centre as little more than an office building.
Local Government Minister Richard Wynne opened the $900,000 refurbishment in May, drawing attention to a $35,000 state grant to upgrade computer facilities.
But when the Independent contacted the centre about computer courses staff said there were none. Nearby neighbourhood houses Rosewall and Cloverdale each reported running between 20 and 30 courses, with six for computers.
A community group representative who asked not to be identified said the centre’s management committee had become “little more than a body corporate for an office building”.
The centre now houses offices for organisations including Glastonbury, Bethany, Matchworks, The Smith Family and Dental Services Victoria.
“Those services were always accessible with a short bus ride, whereas the centre should be about offering courses and activities for the community,” the group representative said.
He claimed a new board of management had agreed to change house coordinator Lou Brazier’s title to consultant and to increase her pay from $24,000 a year to $40,000 for a 20-hour week.
Left-wing ALP members Margrette Lewis and Jacqueline Henry believed the house’s committee had rejected their applications to join because they were factional opponents of Lou Brazier, a right-wing Labor councillor in Geelong.
“The end result of the $1 million so-called upgrade is a massive reduction in services and a board of management stacked with the Labor right,” Ms Henry said.
Cr Brazier refused to speak to the Independent.
House secretary Liz Winning confirmed Cr Brazier’s title had changed after she “restructured the organisation’s constitution” to include the new board of management.
Ms Winning said the centre had cut courses after agreeing with Rosewall and Cloverdale not to compete for students.