Rokewood Recreation Reserve receives $4m upgrade funding

The money will go towards a "community hub", as described by the state government, with multi-use meeting rooms, new change spaces, and public amenities.

Rokewood-Corindhap Football Netball Club president Addy Walton said the current changing rooms were not fit for purpose, and the club's social room needed an upgrade as well.

"Our old change rooms are definitely not friendly to be in, they're not appealing in any way," he said.

"They've got history and character but they're shocking practically - the septic system doesn't work, the showers are cold, it's not nice for opposition teams to come here as well.

"It'll allow us to knock them down and repurpose new change rooms, set up to meet the current guidelines.

"Hopefully with that amount of money we'll be able to reconfigure our social room, probably change the location onto the wing where it's a little higher for better viewing, and get it closer to the netball as well."

The announcement was a surprise for the club, he said, after years of planning work and lobbying Golden Plains Shire Council.

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"It's great, you're never sure exactly what you're going to get from a government grant, but it's more than we expected," he said.

"The club and community's just keen to see is making sure it gets spent in the most efficient way - sometimes governments and councils, when they do things, it costs a lot more to do than what private enterprise can do, so hopefully we can have some kind of hybrid model so the club and rec committee can spend the money in a more efficient way."

Golden Plains Shire mayor Gavin Gamble said the football-netball club was an important focus for the district - the project will receive about $442,000 from council.

"A club like this is more of a foci for the community than some other clubs in other areas, which is why I think it's fully deserving of the council's support," he said.

"There's been a lot of planning done, we have to have a project like this pretty well costed, so I'm not sure of the timeline, but we'll be trying to get it started as soon as possible."

The state government money is from the Growing Suburbs Fund, which was expanded to include peri-urban councils - councils on Melbourne and Geelong's fringes - about three years ago.

Buninyong MP Michaela Settle said it was the largest state government grant ever handed out in Golden Plains Shire.

"I've got Moorabool and Golden Plains (in my electorate), both fantastic councils with really growing areas but not with the sort of rates income to match the infrastructure - if you want big advanced business plans, they can cost $50,000, and they can't sit around on those, so there's a lag to get ready for a big project," she said.

"People have said to me, is this the correct use of the growing suburbs fund, when it's not focused in Bannockburn, but absolutely it is.

"It's about the whole of the shire, it will bring people who are living out this way as well as servicing those larger communities, you need the whole of the shire to be providing for their community, not just small spots."

The funding announcement came on the same day as a campaign push from the Peri-Urban Group of Rural Councils calling for more infrastructure and services from the state and federal governments.

In a media release, the group noted populations are expected to double by 2036, and possibly sooner given COVID-induced movements.

"The peri-urban areas in a commutable distance from these capitals have borne the brunt of this growth, and we know this trend will continue as migration picks up due to the borders opening," chair Brett Tessari, a councillor from Bass Coast, said in a statement.

In the mean time, Mr Walton and the rest of the Grasshoppers are focused on season 2022 after COVID cut the competition short last year.

"We got to the business end in a few football and netball teams last year and it all shut down because of COVID, hopefully this year remains COVID-free and we can stir a few of these other clubs up," he said.

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