NO matter who wins the State Election, the community of Miners Rest is guaranteed funding with the Coalition promising $5.46 million to building a sporting precinct.
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The announcement, made on Monday by Ripon MP Louise Staley will see the opposition commit to funding more than $20 million, having already committed $15 million to build a new primary school in March.
The Coalition will work in with the City of Ballarat to purchase one of three slips of land for the precinct to be built.
The announcement comes on the back of a Labor commitment in August to fund $17.1 million to also build a new school, gym and community sports oval in the township.
Ms Staley said it was time for a community sporting hub for the town.
“Included in our announcement are two ovals, a full-size one and a junior one, cricket pitches, tennis and netball courts combined, a playground and and central community building for family areas and female-friendly change rooms,” she said.
“This is what this community has been asking for, it’s had many rounds of community consultation and they’ve consistently said they need more sporting facilities and in an integrated way.
“This funding is a real win for the Miners Rest community who, for years, have been fighting for sport and community facilities.”
President of the Committee for Miners Rest Alicia Bond said it had been a long time coming.
“The committee itself has been asking for these facilities for a number of years, but the community has been asking for decades for this to come through,” Ms Bond said.
“It’s a very exciting day for us. As most know, there are no significant recreation facilities in Miners Rest at the moment. We do have an oval at the school, but it is over capacity.
“It would ideally be great to have it co-exist with the school and have the school benefit from the facilities, but at the end of the day, of the three possible sites, I don’t really care where it goes as long as we get it.”
City of Ballarat Mayor Samantha McIntosh said with Miners Rest growing at 4.1 per cent, more than double rate of the rest of Ballarat at 2 per cent, the time was right for recreational facilities.
She said the Council was working through details of the land sale with the preferred site for the sporting facility to be determined.
“We know that this facility is imperative for the Miners Rest community and we will ensure that we stumped up the full amount to deliver this project to its entirety.”
The population of Miners Rest is forecast to increase 37 per cent by 2036.
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