A group of nine have been selected to form an advisory committee to work towards saving Warrnambool’s university.
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Warrnambool City Council mayor Kylie Gaston will chair the group and said 90 people had shown an interest in joining after Friday night’s Save Our Uni rally.
“It was quite difficult scaling it down to nine people,” Cr Gaston said.
“We will meet weekly. We need to see some results. It will be a group that can inform the community and work to get the best solution for our campus.”
Cr Gaston’s husband runs the Ginger Kitchen at the university. She said she did not have a conflict of interest.
“What the students eat at the moment is not important,” she said.
“What is important is keeping a university in our region for educational aspiration for our youth and mature age students. It’s a much bigger picture.
“As mayor I need to advocate for what my community has strongly shown it clearly wants. It is really critical for our region to keep a university.
“Education is something I am really passionate about.”
As a councillor, she said she did not have a conflict of interest.
“At this time I am advocating, which is my responsibility as mayor for our city,” Cr Gaston said.
“It’s part of my mayoral duties. It’s a huge issue.
“I would be re-miss if I was not advocating strongly.
“It’s not a council decision, it will be a state decision.
“If something was to come up to council regarding Deakin I would then decide if I felt I had a conflict, because it would be a council vote.”
