MP bats for Venus Bay

GIPPSLAND South MLA Danny O’Brien will write to the State Government to urge progress on the redevelopment of the Venus Bay Surf Life Saving Club.
Mr O’Brien received a briefing and tour of the existing facility from club president Craig Watson recently and is supporting the clubs efforts to rebuild.
“Venus Bay has a wonderful facility but with the growth of the town and more and more interest in surf lifesaving, it’s getting a little cramped for the members,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The club has plans to expand its facility particularly the ground floor where it stores a lot of equipment, vehicles and IRBs.
“This is a great club with many members coming from outside our area to patrol the beach and take part in water safety programs including the very popular Nippers program.”
Venus Bay was of course named Surf Lifesaving Club of the year nationally in 2017 – a great achievement for a small Victorian club, Mr O’Brien said.
“There are now some 250 nippers undertaking the program each summer and this places pressure on the club’s facilities as does the growing popularity of Venus Bay as a summer holiday destination,” he said.
Mr O’Brien said the club was seeking clarity on whether public toilets managed by Parks Victoria adjacent to the clubrooms were to be rebuilt and could be incorporated in the expansion and renovation of the club facility.
“I’m happy to take that up with the State Government and also to urge the government to support this important project,” Mr O’Brien said.
“I’ll be doing what I can to get behind our volunteer surf life savers at Venus Bay.”
Mr Watson said the club was now working with various agencies to secure additional funding required, including Parks Victoria and the Victorian State Government Fund (Administrated by Lifesaving Victoria).
“We are looking to use the current footprint and create a facility that will ensure current and future generations of beach users have the best safety and equipment,” he said.
“In addition, the community will have use of a major hub for briefings and events. We are extremely excited about moving forward with this project.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jan 30 2018. 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