By Tanya Steele
Ambleside Park has once again come under the lens of Knox Council but volunteers are concerned that they will never get to see a new building built to run their operations from.
The dedicated but frustrated Knox Historical Society (KHS) members submitted a personal report and presentation to Knox councillors on 22 August appealing for their new resource centre in Ambleside Park to be built.
Knox Historical Society President Ray Peace said the volunteers are currently working in a space that feels like working in a submarine.
“We’re working over capacity and we could take more volunteers but don’t have the space,” he said.
Over 14 years ago, Knox Historical Society’s aging resource centre at Ambleside Park was demolished by Knox City Council to make way for a new space that would give volunteers a proper working hub and enable the site to flourish.
The society currently operates from temporary facilities that are inadequate for their needs, including a windowless shipping container. Many key historical documents are difficult to access, and the bathrooms and entrances are not accessible.
The land at 1-3 Olivebank Road in Ferntree Gully was donated to the council by Oliver David in the 1970s. It came with a stipulation that the land would not be subdivided and would be dedicated to the preservation of Knox’s history, to be managed by the Knox Historical Society.
Monday 26 August saw the Knox Council move a notice of motion brought forward by Councillor Meagan Baker to support the work of KHS and continue working towards a solution with the caveat any upgrades would be subject to future council budget processes and external funding.
Cr Baker said the core of this motion was to express support and commitment to continue working with the Knox Historical Society committee towards planning for an appropriate and mutually agreeable solution.
“This has been a long-standing concern for the committee, with a master plan that dates back to 2010,” she said.
“Anyone that’s attended the museum that would experience first-hand the challenges that the committee and visitors experience today with workspace, room and storage of archive history.”
Mayor Councillor Jude Dwight requested that the phrase “mutually agreeable” be removed from the notice of motion so that it then read ‘towards planning for an appropriate solution’ instead of ‘mutually agreeable and appropriate’.
Councillors came out in support of KHS and the notice of motion with some also supporting the removal of the phrase, including Councillor Darren Pierce.
“I was part of the majority of Councilors that said no to the last funding proposal at the strategic planning weekend in February, simply of the sheer cost,” he said.
“You can’t necessarily get a mutually agreeable solution. If we’re funding it and we own the property, you may not get everything you want, and that’s just the way it is, especially in this constrained rate-capping environment.”
“I just want to make it very clear that this should never be seen as a commitment by the next council to fund anything is simply to allow consideration of what a future facility would look like, and then for consideration at a future budget by the next council.”
Councillor Lisa Cooper said she deeply valued the KHS and the significant contributions made by its dedicated members and volunteers.
“I do also want to remind everybody that there is currently no funding allocated in our budget to support the proposed upgrades at the site, and additionally, our available resources are also quite limited to undertake such a project at this time,” she said.
“I additionally found mutually agreeable problematic, because often what the council can provide does not always align with the community’s expectations.”
Councillor Nicole Seymour spoke at length and said KHS provides an invaluable service to the people of Knox and beyond.
“You don’t have income streams from bar sales and other avenues. You are committed hard hard-working volunteers with a passion for history, and a passion for Knox doing your bit to preserve that,” she said.
Mayor Dwight closed the conversation and spoke to the removal of the phrase ‘mutually responsible’.
“It is the Council’s aim to have or to work towards a mutually agreeable solution – It’s just that it’s not necessarily possible,” she said.
The notice of motion was passed unanimously and KHS Treasurer Karin Orpen said the KHS are asking for a fair go.
“We need support,” she said.
“Unlike a sports club, we represent the whole of the Knox community.”
KHS remain hopeful but progress for the Ambleside site has been stop-start with no real progression since 2010, the group made their recent presentation upon realising masterplan upgrades were not listed in this years budget.
In the 2024 – 2025 Knox budget the Ambleside site is listed as a work to be carried forward from the previous year in the capital works section for a 62,000 upgrade — but this is not the new climate-controlled temporary resource centre the volunteers need to continue their work.
A Knox media spokesperson said the local government act no longer requires the annual budget submission process but instead requires council to develop its budget in line with its community engagement policy.
“Consultation for the development of council’s budget has consequently been moved earlier in the budget process when community feedback has more opportunity to influence council decision making,” they said.
“Any decision on funding of upgrades to the Ambleside Park facility would need to be considered by the next council during budget deliberations.”
Mr Peace said he has been working at KHS for a long time and this is not the end of the process.
“We have our 60th anniversary in 2025 and we are looking forward to it,”he said.
Ms Orpen said the group will continue their work.
“We will be hopeful for a wonderful outcome for the Knox community,” she said.
