Premier heartens surf club
CAPE Paterson Surf Life Saving Club is closer to receiving funding for a new clubhouse after Premier Daniel Andrews visited the dilapidated on Friday afternoon.
Mr Andrews promised the club government architects, who will work pro bono, will assist the club with future upgrades.
“The architects will help us draw new plans. They’ve worked with other surf life saving clubs in the past so they will be coming to us with expertise,” Cape Paterson Surf Life Saving Club president Chelsea Bowman said.
“It was great the Premier was able to see the state of the clubhouse and it was a positive day for us.”
With cracks and asbestos in the walls, the clubhouse is close to being classed as condemned and the club has also outgrown the facility.
There are now 420 surf club members in Cape Paterson and there is no longer enough room for members. Minimal storage space means equipment has to be kept elsewhere.
The concrete near the clubhouse is deteriorating and visitors are in danger of slipping over in wet conditions.
“Our beach is the same as Venus Bay and Woolamai in terms of danger and we don’t have the facility to cope,” Cape Paterson Surf Life Saving Club vice president Dean Manns said.
Although Mr Andrews did not specify any funding promises, the club is hopeful the visit would encourage him to support construction of a new clubhouse in the future.
“Life Saving Victoria has been applying for funding for many surf clubs and we ranked high for upgrades required,” Ms Bowman said.
Mr Andrews acknowledged the building was not fit for the club.
Ms Bowman anticipated the club would arrange to meet with the government architects in the coming months.
The Premier also took the time to tour Archiblox, a Wonthaggi building company.
He then took part in a round table discussion organised by Bass Coast Shire Council mayor Cr Jordan Crugnale and also attended by deputy mayor Cr Bradley Drew, council CEO Paul Buckley, Eastern Victoria MLC Harriet Shing and representatives from community groups and businesses.
“We had representatives from both the private and public sector, with business leaders and key players representing the four pillars of the sustainability framework: economy, environment, community and culture,” Cr Crugnale said.
“It was a rare opportunity to discuss issues face to face with the premier, such as a regional centre, education, business growth and renewable energy.”
Bright start: Premier Daniel Andrews (centre) gave hope to Cape Paterson Surf Life Saving Club vice president Dean Manns (left) and president Chelsea Bowman (right) after promising them government architects would go over plans to revamp the clubhouse that is almost condemned.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Feb 2 2016. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
