The monthly program, run by council, gives seniors the opportunity to see a movie at Horsham Centre Cinemas, followed by lunch at the city’s RSL.

Council had previously announced it would cancel the service from 2018 because of funding cuts.

A petition with 99 signatures was presented to council at a meeting on Monday night.

Council agreed unanimously that the program needed to continue, at least until the end of the financial year.

Cr Mark Radford said the program should be reviewed at the end of the financial year.

“When the review is complete, recommendations will be presented as part of the 2018-19 budget process,” he said.

“It is an important program that should continue at least in the short term.”

However, Cr David Grimble argued the program should continue for the foreseeable future.

“We should support the program not only through next year but for the ongoing future,” he said.

“When we look at the service provided, about 100 seniors participate and it costs about $6000 to $7000 to run, which is a relatively low figure in our budget, so why go through a review?”

Mayor Pam Clarke said there was no question about the value of the program.

“If we look at the mental health of our seniors, social activity is important,” she said.

“Isolation is one of the biggest causes of mental health issues.

“However, I still believe the program needs a review – we need to know if we can do it better or if it’s appropriate for us to be running it.

“It’s a vital program and I don’t think anyone here wants to see it stop.”

Community services director Kevin O’Brien said program participants paid for their own movie ticket and meal.

He said council paid for staff co-ordination, printing of pamphlets and transportation.

Mr O’Brien said the service was originally cut because of funding changes.

“Due to multiple changes to the funding model including the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and a new model of age care funding, council will have to repay any surplus income not spent on service delivery and will not have access to the savings previously used to support this program,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we prematurely announced the end of the program before we had been able to undertake a review to understand whether we are able to continue the program through remodelling.”

“Once a review is complete, a report would be provided to council.”

Cr Alethea Gulvin said council needed to find a better way of running the program.

“There could be ways of using technology to reduce the costs,” she said.

“The participants pay $13 for a meal and $6 for a movie ticket – maybe there is a way we can offer them more.”