Campaspe Shire Council has stopped short of taking an all-or-nothing approach to its funding strategy for a $3.2 million upgrade of Kyabram’s Wilf Cox Community Complex.
Following a decision at the March 19 council meeting, a funding application will be submitted to the Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund for $1 million, just less than one-third of the estimated cost.
The remaining $2.2 million for the shovel-ready project will come from council.
Applications for the RCSIF program close on March 27, and council expects to learn the result of its submission within three months.
Mayor Rob Amos said the project was really important to the community, which was why council endorsed a commitment of $2.2 million.
“Council has requested that in the event of an unsuccessful grant application, officers will prepare a report for further consideration,” Cr Amos said.
The redevelopment of the Kyabram Recreation Reserve building was first touted in 2014 when a preliminary design was developed. The latest incarnation of those plans has four major focus points.
All change rooms and amenities will become gender-neutral, new change-room facilities will be provided for both male and female umpires, additional change rooms will also be provided for netball players and umpires, and a lift will be installed in the two-storey building.
The final inclusion, the lift, is a major financial component and will allow the facility to be accessible to all users.
A three-point recommendation made to council at its March 19 meeting did not receive unanimous support from councillors.
Kyabram-Deakin Ward Cr Colleen Gates did not include point three of the officers’ recommendation in her motion, which committed a further $1 million of council money to the project in the event of an unsuccessful application to the Victorian Government infrastructure fund.
Cr Adrian Weston moved a motion to amend the final point of the recommendation to allow council to discuss future funding options in the event of an unsuccessful application.
“I would like to move points one and two only,” Cr Gates said.
She described the project as “a bit of a long tale on this one”, considering the project charter and business case was first developed in 2014.
“Council is eligible for funding. I would like to think this is a strong case for funding from this state government program,” Cr Gates said.
“We will find out within a few months if we are successful or not.”
She said the Wilf Cox Community Centre was “well overdue for a bit more love and attention to bring it up to modern-day standards”.
Cr John Zobec said the building was showing its age and needed a lot of repairs.
Council revealed data that showed 1670 participants used the recreation reserve each week during winter.
That figure was expected to rise by 18 per cent in the future.
Full plans of the redevelopment are available in the agenda of council’s March 19 meeting on council’s website.