George pledges $11m for Serendip masterplan

LABOR would spend $11 million on revamping Lara’s Serendip Sanctuary and You Yangs precinct if it retains government at this month’s election.

Retiring Lara MP John Eren, Labor candidate for Lara Ella George and Veterans Minister Shaun Leane visited the sanctuary last week with community group leaders and City of Greater Geelong councillors to announce the funding commitment.

The state government released its You Yangs Precinct Masterplan in February, which outlined strategies aimed at protecting and enhancing natural and cultural significance of the area.

Labor says its pledge towards the masterplan would “protect the special location for generations to come”.

“It is absolutely incredible, but I think the investment really recognises the significance of this place, whether it’s for local families who enjoy a walk around the You Yangs, children who like to visit wildlife here at Serendip Sanctuary, the tourists who visit our beautiful region or our Traditional Owners for whom this area means so much and is so important,” Ms George said.

“I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it next year and seeing this magnificent place be transformed.”

Lara Care Group president Barry White welcomed the commitment.

“It’s a great day, because we can stop writing letters,” he quipped.

“This is really a sensational step forward for us – we’ve always highlighted the fact that this is such an important asset in this region; it’s going to be very important in the future.

“If we get the animals back, we can get rocking and rolling.”

Serendip and the You Yangs draw more than 470,000 people each year for activities including mountain biking, horse riding, rock-climbing and abseiling, trail running, bushwalks and picnics.

The announcement follows recent advocacy from the city last month, which said it would write to the government to ask for more clarity on the masterplan’s implementation and funding in response to community concerns about the removal of wildlife and deterioration of the area.

Windermere Ward councillors Anthony Aitken and Kylie Grzybek said the pledge was very exciting.

“The community hasn’t just been advocating over the past couple of months to try to save Serendip, the community’s actually been fighting for 20 years to protect, in a planning sense, the surrounding areas,” Cr Aitken said.

“$11 million is probably the largest investment the You Yangs and Serendip has ever received from any state government, even larger than what established this at the start.”

“The reality is you can develop masterplans, you can talk as much as you like, but without dollars, you actually can’t do anything, and today’s announcements means we can absolutely do nearly everything.”