Bright bonus for Korumburra
Lighting grant to brighten reserve: South Gippsland Shire Councillor Bob Newton, council CEO Tim Tamlin, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Hugh Delahunty, deputy mayor Cr Moyha Davies, Korumburra-Bena Football Netball Club project manager Don Olden and club president Mick Hopkins.
THE Korumburra Recreation Reserve will become lighter and brighter after the State Government announced a $100,000 to upgrade lighting at the Korumburra-Bena Football Netball Club last week.
The funding accompanies a $60,000 grant from the South Gippsland Shire Council as well as $67,000 raised by the club, bringing the total value of the project to $227,000.
Victorian Minister for Sport and Recreation, Hugh Delahunty, said the funding would not only benefit footballers, but also netballers who currently have no lighting around their court.
“I’m here today to announce we will be contributing $100,000 to upgrade the lighting not only on the football ground, but also particularly for the netballers,” he said.
“I know there’s been a big demand for the improvement in the lighting. They tell me the netballers train in the ‘chookshed’.
Mr Delahuntly said sport facilities needed to accommodate both sportsmen and women.
“Too often I’ve asked where are the females changing, and I’m told they change out of the back of their cars. I’m sorry, those days are gone,” he said.
“Over 50 per cent of our population are female; we need to ensure that they play and are active in sport too, not only the males.”
Describing himself as someone who’s been “heavily involved with sport” all his life, Mr Delahuntly said he was thrilled to make the announcement in Korumburra, and he hoped the upgrade would encourage more people to become active.
“As Minister for Sport and Recreation, I have a key driver; I want to see more people more active, more often,” he said.
“I want to see them away from the TV and away from computer games, and get them out there and active in sport and recreation. To do that, we need facilities to ensure people can be active in sport.”
Council deputy mayor Cr Moyha Davies welcomed the minister, describing him as a “pretty handy sportsperson” himself.
“When he was down in Welshpool last, he threw three three-pointers straight through the net,” she said.
“He is a very capable sportsman still.”
Cr Davies thanked the State Government for the contribution and praised the Korumburra community for dedicating themselves to the project.
“It is a very heartfelt project from the community,” she said.
“They’ve worked hard to put together a strategic plan and to develop the facility to the point they were successful in this grant application. It is a combined effort. It is council working with State Government and the community groups.”
Project manager for the club, Don Olden, said the generous funding would go a long way towards installing new lighting, with the current infrastructure is so old it can no longer be improved or fixed.
“I’d sincerely like to thank the State Government for their contribution, as $100,000 is a huge amount of money in our book, and I’d also like to acknowledge the contribution made by our local shire council,” he said.
“The lights will greatly enhance our training options. Hopefully it will give us the opportunity to play night games, and also open the venue up to the clubs that have community events here.”
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