Pony club caught short on relocation

A DEAL that would see the Bendigo Pony Club move from its current home in Golden Square to make way for Bendigo Foodshare is still yet to see key details confirmed.

Concerns raised by club members come after works began at the site and have forced the club to move to temporary venues.

In March, City of Greater Bendigo councillors voted in favour of a plan that would see the club move from its Breen Street and Belle Vue Road site to the Goornong Recreation Reserve.

As part of the plan the City will provide monetary support and pay for construction of facilities similar to what the pony club currently has, with works to get underway as soon as practical.

Council also committed to provide funding for the club’s monthly events should they need to be organised at a temporary location before works at Goornong are complete.

Although pleased with the commitment, Bendigo Pony Club president Sue Harvey said she hopes there’ll be follow through.

“We want the support from the council that we are going to get what we have been promised,” she said.

“We’re a club of 66 years, we’ve been on those grounds for a long time. There’s a lot of history, a lot of emotion there.

“We found these grounds ourselves at Goornong and it’s been a long process with the Goornong Recreation Reserve.

“They’re welcoming us now, which is fantastic, and we just so want to be a part of that community now, but we just need to get the infrastructure going.”

Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said the City needs to work out what infrastructure is required and how much it will cost.

“It’s really what needs to happen out there; can we get started and get the works done so that we provide the Bendigo Pony Club with a great venue for them to move to?” she said.

“We’ve just got to work out what works need to be done out there, and then they’ll be costed at that time.

“The fact that it’s come through as a motion at council gives clear direction to the CEO to get moving with those works.”

Ms Harvey said with no facilities at Goornong for the club, fencing, a dressage arena, club rooms, and sheds are needed.

The club rooms will be moved from the old site, but everything else will have to be built.

“We can’t have this extended over the next two to three years, we need all this now, because we’re an up and running club,” said Ms Harvey.

With works underway at the Golden Square location to make way for Bendigo Foodshare’s new warehouse, a recent event was relocated to Naengar Park Pony Club in Eaglehawk.

The City has been undertaking soil testing at the site, leaving holes that are unsafe for horses and their riders.

“We can’t partition off areas that we’re not going to have access to. That cuts our ground down a lot, so we just can’t use it, it’s too unsafe for our riders,” said Ms Harvey.

“We know the Foodshare want to get ahead with things, it’s been going for some time now, but we’d like to get ahead with things too.”