COUNCILLOR COLUMN – June 28, 2018

Play ball!

Geelong has hit a home run by securing a team in the Australian Baseball League for the upcoming season.

While both the Renegades (cricket) and Melbourne Victory (soccer) have a presence in Geelong, until now we didn’t have a team in a national sporting league playing here full-time over summer.

The Geelong-Korea baseball team will fill that void beautifully.

Made up entirely of Korean players, they’ll play all 20 of their home games at the Geelong Baseball Centre in Waurn Ponds.

It’ll give our region major exposure into Asia, with every match to be beamed live to millions of viewers in South Korea, where baseball is hugely popular.

The City’s Investment and Attraction team worked hard to help get this deal done, and we can’t wait for the opening pitch in November.

Budget funding for important local projects

This week Council officially adopted its 2018-19 budget, after making the draft version available for public feedback during May.

Both Armstrong Creek and the Bellarine are well catered for, with funding for several projects that’ll have a positive impact for the community.

This includes $6.72 million to build the Armstrong Creek East neighbourhood activity centre, and $1.36 million for the Armstrong Creek East community pavilion.

Two of our major commitments on the Bellarine are $4 million for the Drysdale integrated children’s centre, and $300,000 for an upgrade of Kingston Park in Ocean Grove.

You can see the full budget at geelongaustralia.com.au/budget.

Wander to Win

As Council’s Tourism and Events portfolio holder, I’m proud of our region’s growing reputation as a brilliant visitor destination.

At the moment, we draw around 5.1 million visitors each year – and this will keep growing with Avalon Airport’s expansio to receive international flights.

But how often do we as residents actually take the time to visit the attractions that make us so popular with tourists?

A new initiative from Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine is encouraging us to do just that.

With school holidays about to start, ‘Wander to Win’ will send you to fun locations around the region, where there’ll be games to play, puzzles to solve, and some great prizes up for grabs.

It’s a perfect chance to remind yourself about just how lucky we are to live where we do, and to show off our region to your
friends and family when they visit from elsewhere.

To get involved, visit wandertowin.com.au or get the app by searching for “Geelong & The Bellarine” in the App Store or Google Play.

Libraries going strong

I’m a passionate supporter of our libraries and believe it’s important everyone in Greater Geelong has access to one nearby.

Earlier this year I was nominated as one of four Greater Geelong Council representatives on the Geelong Regional Library Corporation board, and have since been appointed Chair.

Combined, the region’s 16 libraries and two mobile libraries receive around 1.96 million visits each year – showing how valued they are by the community.

It was great to see in the most recent figures that Barwon Heads library has enjoyed a huge 82 per cent jump in visits compared to the same time in 2017.

While most people see libraries as a place to borrow books (which, of course, they are), our facilities offer a lot more.

The Geelong Library and Heritage Centre hosts an incredible range of events, classes and guests.

During July Chloe Shorten (the wife of Labor leader Bill Shorten) will host a two course lunch to discuss her new cookbook, ‘The Secret Ingredient – The Power of the Family Table’.

In early August, Western Bulldogs champion Bob Murphy will reflect on his life and career at a special event to promote his autobiography.

These are just two of many interesting speakers on the calendar. Visit grlc.vic.gov.au/ whats-on for more.