Serving up better clubs

THE past two weeks have seen some incredible tennis played at Melbourne Park for the Australian Open.

This tournament always brings out the best in players and spectators alike, and I love the fact that our national open is referred to as the ‘Happy Slam’.

While we don’t have anything quite to the scale of the Australian Open in Greater Geelong in terms of tennis tournaments, we do have a large number of participants at many clubs across the region, and plenty of competitions for people of all skill levels.

It is why the development of a $1.72 million pavilion at Leopold Tennis Club is so vital.

I had the pleasure of touring the construction site in January, along with Mayor Trent Sullivan and Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant MP.

Council has contributed $720,000 to this significant project, while the upgrade secured $1 million from the Victorian Government’s Local Community Sport and Recreation Projects fund.

The pavilion will feature a social space, kitchen/kiosk and storage, and the female-friendly amenities include changerooms, showers and toilets.

Accessible public toilets are on the outside of the building, while alongside the pavilion, a new playground will be put in place at the site of the previous half court.

Encouraging people to be physically active is one thing but it is clearly of paramount importance that exercise can be done in a safe and accessible way.

This pavilion will help improve sport and recreation opportunities for the community of Leopold and surrounding suburbs, which is a key priority of the community.

The ongoing investments made by Council, along with government support, will now ensure that our tennis players are well catered for – both on and off the court.

By now many of you will have seen the upgrade works that were completed late last year at the St Leonards Skate Park.

The redeveloped space boasts a range of new features designed to cater to skateboarders, BMX enthusiasts, scooter riders and inline skaters.

This $670,000 upgrade was made possible thanks to $310,000 from Council and $360,000 from the Victorian Government’s Community Sports Infrastructure Stimulus Program.

The community has already seen the benefits of this upgrade, and with plenty of visitors to our region in recent weeks I am confident word will spread that this is an ideal place for skating enthusiasts.

But community input matters even after projects are complete, and council is seeking feedback from community members on the redeveloped St Leonards Skate Park.

The insights that will be gathered will help us better understand the impact of the upgrades and guide future enhancements across our wide range of skate facilities across Greater Geelong.

Council is committed to creating vibrant and engaging spaces for residents, so it doesn’t matter if you have been a long-time skate park user or are simply happy exploring the new additions.

All feedback will contribute to the ongoing improvement of our recreational spaces, so I urge everyone to participate in the evaluation survey.

The survey closes at 5pm on Monday 26 February and is available online at https://yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au/STLSP.

Hard copies are available by contacting the Open Space Planning Team on (03) 5272 5272.

Cr Elise Wilkinson

Bellarine Ward, City of Greater Geelong