May 29, 2026
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Gymnasts vault to success
YMCA Geelong gymnastics team were all smiles after their successful Victorian Championships. (Ivan Kemp) 555916_02
Geelong’s young gymnasts are the toast of the city after producing some outstanding results at the 2026 Senior Victorian Championships at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Parkville . YMCA Geelong Gymnastics Club, based in Newtown, brought home state titles, All-Around championships, apparatus medals and Victorian team selections from the event held from 22 to 24 May. Ivy Alford was crowned Level 8 Under All-Around Champion with Ailani Songsaeng taking out second place while the club secured the Level 8 Division 1 Team Champion title. In the Future International category, Lucy Riddle was awarded All-Around Champion and Beam Champion, while in the Developing Athlete category Olivia Meaney is now All-Around Champion, as well as Beam Champion, Floor Champion and Vault Champion and Alyssa Rantino took out third place in the All-Around. See page 24 for the full story.
City reaches out By Matt Hewson Geelong council has committed to a new engagement policy focused on clearer, more inclusive and transparent dialogue with the community. The new policy outlines when, how and with whom the City of Greater Geelong will conduct community engagement, how that feedback will be used in decision making and how the City will report back to the community. Councillor Emma Sinclair said the new policy was one of the City’s most important. “True community engagement sometimes requires relinquishing some control, which sometimes might make us a little bit hesitant, but when it’s done properly
it’s a wonderful opportunity,” she said. “We’re not the most diverse council…we don’t necessarily reflect the diversity of our wonderful Geelong community. So having a policy that guides how we connect with different members of our community is really important.” The policy also outlines ways the City will broaden the reach of its engagement and reduce barriers to participation. “The Have You Say page on a website is not going to engage everybody in our community,” councillor Elise Wilkinson said. “There are a lot of people who would like to talk to somebody, and then they’d like to hear exactly how that information’s landed, what can be done and what that next step is.”
The council’s endorsement of the new policy at Tuesday night’s City Hall meeting followed on the heels of a question time submission from resident Trish Gant. “The last five years, I have raised a number of issues during question time,” she said. “In many cases, the responses have been brief…dismissive or there has been little follow-up afterwards. “I have also attended meetings where members of the public asking questions appeared to be met with eye-rolling, sniggering or dismissive behaviour from councillors, which I believe is inappropriate in a public forum and discourages community participation. “What steps will the council take to improve accountability, communication,
and the way members of the public are treated when participating in council meetings?” Councillor Anthony Aitken said the community was “ahead of us again”. “What I’m hearing is that they actually want to know what influence they’re actually making on decisions that are being made by officers and councillors,” he said. “I suspect we’re going to have to listen a lot more to where the community is at so we can better respond to them. “I’m really encouraged that the community is starting to demand a lot more of us in terms of engagement. It isn’t just about engaging, it’s about what we do with that information we receive from the community.”
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