Point Lonsdale surf club welcomes Liberals’ $1.8 million pledge

MEMBERS of Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club continue to celebrate after news an elected Liberal Government will invest $1.8 million to upgrade the club.

Candidate for Bellarine Brian McKiterick and Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Brad Battin visited the club last week to announce that if elected on November 24, the Liberals would complete the long overdue clubhouse and rebuild the unsafe operations centre.

“Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club has made a huge contribution to participation in the local community and it’s only fair that they receive the support they deserve,” Mr McKiterick said.

“You really need to see the club to believe how dangerous Pt Lonsdale SLSC’s facilities are – concrete cancer has riddled this beach facility to a point of disrepair.

“As the local Liberal candidate, I am proud to be continually fighting for our grassroots clubs – and will continue to deliver for them.”

The news comes as the club struggles to raise the remaining funds to complete its new clubhouse.

Building surveyors will also investigate the operations centre soon, which may face closure if deemed unsafe, which will affect patrols this summer.

While Bellarine MP Lisa Neville and the Labor Government have not yet matched the Liberal government’s latest pledge, the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club has benefited greatly from its funding.

“I committed to work to secure the land from council to enable the club to get the necessary land to expand and build the new club rooms,” Ms. Neville said.

“This involved me securing funding for the council for a number of projects that they were going to use proceeds from selling that land towards.

“I was able to secure equivalent amounts to projects like the Pt Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve and council agreed to sell the land to the surf club for $1.

“Following that I then secured $1.5 million for the clubrooms and then another $500,000.

“I strongly supported the successful VESEP] Grant application the club put in for the replacement All-Terrain Vehicle, as well as the funds for a new outboard, this amount totalled almost $60,000.”