Champions of their reserves

By Meg Kennedy

Two Moorabool community organisations have been commended for their upkeep of public land reserves.

Mount Wallace Hall and Reserve and the Clarendon Recreational Reserve were two of three groups in the Grampians region commended last month for their achievements with the management of public land reserves, by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

DELWP Grampians Regional Manager of Land and Built Environment, Grant Hull said the volunteers “are working hard all year round to ensure everyone has access to local community spaces.”

“It’s about representing the local community in decision-making about important local community assets, so the greater the diversity and representation, the better,” Mr Hull said.

Mount Wallace Hall and Reserve Committee Secretary Frances Lloyd said the hall has undergone a variety of big works in the last 12-months; the most notable being the removal of old trees, the installation of a new picnic area with a new barbeque, underground power, new security, a defibrillator, and an audio and surround-sound system.

As well as events such as birthdays and other celebrations, the hall is also a popular venue for table tennis, with teams competing regularly throughout the year.

“Not a lot of people realise that table tennis is so hotly contested in a little hall, stuck out in the middle of nowhere,” said Ms Lloyd.

Clarendon Recreational Reserve also received recognition for their hard work in making the Clarendon Community Centre a reality, which was officially opened back in March.

Reserve Committee President Trevor Smith said the award to the committee was for “all the work we had done for the centre”, with more than 1000 hours of work completed on the centre, becoming one of the main gathering spaces for the small town.

“We’re having functions there and we’re getting more bookings …we’ve had events such as funeral wakes to a first birthday,” he said.

The hub will also serve as an important meeting point during the summer months in the event of a fire emergency, following the devastating nearby Scotsburn fires in December 2016, which destroyed 12-homes.

“We’ve got a big water tank there, which [firefighters] can access water for the town,” said Mr Smith.

To find out more about volunteering for a Committee of Management, visit www.delwp.vic.gov.au.