Players claim council win

By Ed Merrison
KNOX Basketball Incorporated has failed in a bid to bring forward negotiations for a new lease, but is confident the newly elected council will bring a better outcome for its members.
KBI chief executive Laurie Joyce said he believed basketballers who were unhappy with the way they had been treated by the previous council had influenced the elections.
“I have no doubt that the basketball community was instrumental in returning people who have not only indicated a support for our sport but, more importantly, have shown that they will listen to our concerns.
“We look forward to working with the entire council in the future months to resolve the issue of our lease and to assist us in building more courts,” Mr Joyce said.
KBI stated on its website that eight out of nine winning candidates said they supported a better deal for basketball.
Mr Joyce’s comments come after the council turned down KBI’s appeal to begin negotiations for KBI’s lease on Boronia Stadium in December, four weeks earlier than previously planned.
A motion to bring forward negotiations was raised as a matter of urgent business by Dinsdale Ward councillor Adam Gill at the ordinary meeting of council on Tuesday, 22 November.
Cr Gill argued that the matter was urgent because KBI needed to finalise lease details in order to go ahead with its pledge of $1 million for the $2 million construction of two new basketball courts at Fairhills High School in Knoxfield.
Cr Gill said KBI ran the risk of losing the Fairhills deal if it did not pay its stake soon, with the possibility of the State Government withdrawing its contribution of $1 million.
Dobson Ward councillor Karin Orpen repeatedly asked for clarification of the urgency, but Cr Gill was unable to specify a deadline for KBI’s investment into Fairhills.
The motion was defeated by six votes to three, with Taylor Ward councillor Emanuele Cicchiello voting in favour, along with Cr Gill and Scott Ward councillor David Cooper.
Cr Gill’s motion provoked claims that pressure from KBI, which published responses to a questionnaire about candidates’ support for the organisation on its website on Monday, 21 November, had brought the item onto the agenda ahead of elections.
Defeated Collier Ward councillor Garry Scates, who reportedly deleted the email containing the KBI questionnaire without reading it, said KBI was using the election as a lever.
“They’re saying ‘Support us or else’. I will not react to threats,” former Cr Scates said.
Mr Joyce also said he found Cr Scates’s claims of a threat offensive. “I find it really odd that community groups can’t ask questions to elected councillors, and I find the hostility towards us from some people strange and disappointing,” Mr Joyce said.