Greater Dandenong councillors are set to decide on a replacement for Cr Lana Formoso on sports and aquatic centre company South East Leisure’s board.
Councillors Rhonda Garad and Phillip Danh were expected to pitch for the position in a pre-meeting before councillors vote in the council meeting on Monday 16 March.
The vacancy comes after Cr Formoso recently stepped down as the council representative.
She had been granted a leave of absence at the previous council meeting on 16 February, and had last appeared at the mayoral election special meeting in mid-November 2025.
South East Leisure was set up as a subsidiary company by the council to manage four of its aquatic and leisure facilities in the municipality including Noble Park Aquatic Centre, Springer Leisure Centre, Dandenong Oasis (to be replaced by the upcoming Dandenong Wellbeing Centre) and Dandenong Stadium.
The SEL annual reports depicts a story of the council consistently injecting millions of dollars for the return of modest profits.
In 2021-22, the council contributed $1.68 million with a mere $354,000 profit return over the four aquatic centres, $3.3 million in 2022-23 with $24,000 profit reported, $3.406 million in 2023-24 with $52,000 reported and an estimated $3.4 million in 2024-25 with no profit return listed for that year.
Cr Garad says she will be looking for robust governance systems “that are able to pre-emptively identify issues and pre-emptively address them”, as well as financial accountability and ensuring SEL programs are reaching culturally diverse communities.
“I’ll be looking for their comprehensive transition plan, of taking on the new facility (Dandenong Wellbeing Centre) and to ensure that transition is as seamless as possible.
“Council has been giving them money for setup and transitional issues but there really has to come a time where they have a state-of-the-art facility and not to blame old facilities for not generating incomes.
“I’m looking for a sound fiscal plan for becoming an income generator that will stop the council financially supplementing them all the time.”
She said she will be looking at the employment targets around CALD communities amongst many other things.
Cr Garad brings years of experience as an experienced councillor of six years as well as being part of the Council Audit and Risk Committee.
On the other hand, deputy mayor Danh says he is a SEL member and a frequent visitor whose legal background and placing the community’s needs as a priority best places him for the role.
Acknowledging the upcoming Dandenong Wellbeing Centre in the works, he says it’s an “exciting” time but striking a balance between being a community pool and its costs to the public will be his key focus.
“We want to make sure when the facility is ready, it can cover the operational costs and it can be self-sustained financially.
“While that aspect is important, the key focus is ensuring it’s accessible to as many members of the public as possible because we know there’s so many stories of the old Dandenong Oasis pool and how it created memories for a lot of the residents over the years.
“People take swimming lessons there, it’s a way to meet friends and to engage in a healthy lifestyle and I think it’s an opportunity to really accelerate that.”
He says his legal background can help him access risks and maximise advantages.
The SEL annual report in 2021-22 read the facility upgrades and renewals over the next five years will lead to “significant improvements across visitations, membership numbers and financial performances.”
However, centre attendance at Dandenong Oasis decreased drastically by 41 per cent during Covid lockdowns from 2021-22 to 2022-23, and it has struggled to maintain visitation numbers (down by 0.06 per cent in 2024-’25).
Attendees also decreased at Springers Leisure Centre by 31 per cent in 2022-23 with a 5 per cent increase in 2024-’25.
Membership numbers at the aquatic centres have increased by 30 per cent in 2024-2025.
The Dandenong Wellbeing Centre, a $122 million project is one of the council’s biggest projects expected to open in 2027.
The project includes a 50-metre pool, a 25-metre 10 lane pool, two warm water pools, an integrated hockey pavilion, a new forecourt, landscaping, a car park, spa and sauna.
