Council holds on to stadium hopes
AFTER a new senior campus of Wonthaggi Secondary College missed out on crucial state budget funding, the Wonthaggi highball stadium has been left in limbo.
Bass Coast Shire Council agreed to partially fund the stadium prior to the release of the state budget. Council allocated $1.5 million in its shared facilities fund in its 2017-18 budget.
However, the stadium would only be built in conjunction with the education precinct, which was not funded by the State Government.
Mayor Cr Pamela Rothfield said council was yet to decide whether the $1.5 million would be held over until the next budget.
“Should it appear that the facility will not be funded this year, council will decide on whether the funds are carried forward to future budgets,” she said.
“At this point, the draft budget is for the allocation to be spent on the facility with no alternative, should the project not proceed.”
The second option for the highball stadium is for it to be part of the YMCA upgrades. However, stakeholders fear this will take up to 10 years to complete.
Despite the setback, Cr Rothfield said the education precinct continues to be the preferred site.
“Key community groups have shared the preferred location for a highball facility would be the future site of the Wonthaggi Secondary College as opposed to the Bass Coast Aquatics and Leisure Centre. The recent funding prospect presents council and education with a genuine shared facility opportunity, so we will continue to pursue this avenue,” she said,
“As our application to the shared facilities fund is still a ‘live’ application, council is continuing to work with funding bodies, Wonthaggi Secondary College and all user groups, including the Wonthaggi Amateur Basketball Association and is hoping for a positive outcome for all.
“It should also be noted that recent discussions with the State Government indicate the secondary college project will progress to detailed design to make the project ‘shovel ready’. Hopefully this means the project will get funded in next year’s budget.”
The secondary college council continues to discuss options for pursuing state funding.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on May 16 2017. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
