Knox City Councillors have voted in favour of amendments to the 2025-26 budget, which highlighted cost escalations in construction materials and operational savings, along with a discussion around upgrades to Lewis Park.
Knox Council have passed an amended 2025-2026 budget at their last council meeting on 29 September, with a question mark on the allocation of funds for the Lewis Park upgrade for now.
The original budget was adopted on 23 June 2025 (which included $15.723 million in carry-forward identified from 2024-25 to be moved to 2025-26.
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glen Atwell, was happy to support the proposed amended budget, stating that amendments were a normal practice.
“At the moment, we’re seeing cost escalations in terms of construction of materials impacting on the capital program. At the same time, there’s been some efficiency and improvements and some operational savings identified as well,” he said.
The 2025-26 amended budget showed an operating surplus of $11.808 million against an adopted budget surplus of $19.454 million, described in the council documents as ‘an unfavourable variance’ of $7.646 million, primarily related to non-cash items such as increased depreciation and timing differences for delivering projects.
The council has set aside $630,000 in 2025–26 to design a new pavilion at Lewis Park, but officers recommended using it to create a full design plan for the whole park as part of Knox Central’s long-term redevelopment.
The amount is considered reasonable given the size of the project, but if the council later changes the plan or moves it to another site, a new design would be needed and would cost extra.
Councils in Victoria prepare a new annual budget each financial year, and while the budget is adopted annually, amendments can occur throughout the year if there are significant financial changes or if the existing plan requires adjustment.
Collier ward, Cr Chris Duncan was supportive of amendments but opposed the allocation of funds for Lewis Park pavilion upgrades, citing unmet promises to other clubs.
“I won’t be supporting this as it’s been recommended to us,” he said.
Taylor Ward Cr Susan Pearce said she thought it was unrealistic for a budget amendment to happen so quickly after the initial adoption in June.
“I agree with Councillor Duncan that I’m not happy with the amount going to the pavilion at Lewis Park, because basically we have other pavilions that need help too,” she said.
Dinsdale Ward, Cr Robert Williams, suggested an alternate to decide on the amended budget and Lewis Park separately.
“I’m just remiss of when we went through this budget process in the first place that we were told we can’t add additional things once things have been sort of set in motion,” he said.
The discussion continued, and Cr Atwell said that the Lewis Park Master Plan is a significant project.
The amended budget motion was passed, with all in favour except Cr Pearce and the Lewis Park motion was lost, and the unallocated funds for the pavilion will be revisited in a future report.
