Breaking in Haddon’s new ground

AFTER two years of planning, campaigning and construction, the Haddon Recreation Centre Floor project is finally complete and ready for use.

Although the project completed in March this year, at the official ribbon cutting ceremony Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle said it couldn’t have been used until now due to COVID regulations.

“It was finished in March but of course we couldn’t open it … for me this has been a long time coming,” she said.

“First go, they did a wonderful job but there were some drainage issues so it had to be reworked on and then it was actually finished a while ago but COVID hit so none of us could use it.

“Helena came to me two years ago when she was the mayor and I was running for State Government, and she pointed out that we needed to fix this.”

Mayor of Golden Plains Shire Cr Helena Kirby said the new floor project is a product of a great partnership between the two entities.

“Thank you to the Victorian Government for supporting this initiative and delivering on its commitment to a project worth $220,000,” she said.

“Council is proud to have managed the construction of this project including the installation of new spotted gum sprung flooring, with a sub floor ventilation system and line marking, new basketball back boards… as well as outdoor drainage works and new roof sheeting.

“The works have revitalised the centre and returned a local asset back to its full potential for the Haddon community.”

While the Haddon Primary School students are excited to play on the new floor, chair of the Haddon Recreation Centre Committee of Management and member of the Haddon Badminton Club Adam Liversage said players and residents are keen to put it to use.

“A couple of years ago I actually put my foot through the floor here and we had to cancel badminton a few times because of the floor,” he said.

“Our club has around 60 members out here so we are quite a large club and although we haven’t played for over 12 months… this is great for us, we can’t wait to get out here.”

Ms Settle added, “The floor was pretty awful, so I was pretty pleased when I went to Daniel Andrews for some money to fix it and he gave it to us … in a town like Haddon, places like these are really the centre of the community.”