The official opening of the upgraded Carisbrook Recreation Reserve facility on Saturday 5 August was a fantastic event.
It was testament to how community, Council and State Government worked together to achieve an amazing outcome such as the “state of the art” sporting facility catering from both male and female sport.
As we know projects like these don’t just happen overnight!
The sporting facility is the result of many people working hard behind the scenes and many years of planning and advocacy by the community user groups, in particular Carisbrook Recreation Reserve Committee headed by President Troy Driscoll and Carisbrook Football Netball Club Secretary and Netball President Carlene Dowie, and the Bowls Club who were unyielding of their quest.
A key driver was to create a facility that catered for everyone – including dedicated change rooms for females; as many of you here will appreciate – some of the facilities were certainly far beyond their “use by” date.
The investment of $5,000 from the Carisbrook Recreation Reserve Committee to engage local consultants ARC Ventures to develop a vision and business case was the start of a journey and now the reality.
The project was soon identified as one of Council’s Priority Projects, as well as a key project in Council’s Recreation and Open Space Strategy 2020-2029. This subsequently helped secure $2 million in Victorian Government funding for stage one of the project followed by a further $2,157 million announced in August 2020 with Council committing to provide a further $338,000 making the project a reality.
The vision – an accessible and inclusive modern sporting facility for both male and female, a community hub for the growing population of Carisbrook and surrounding townships it now exceeds all expectations.
It’s not just a recreational hub, it’s a Social Hub also; to be used not only by community members but we know residents of all ages and abilities will travel here from neighbouring townships and Shires to utilise it. We are absolutely thrilled this amazing asset is bringing joy to all users.
I applaud all those behind the scenes -project architects Dock4 Pty Ltd for their vision; Ontoit Project Management; Searle Bros Building contractors and lastly but not least, in fact, I am so proud of Council’s Major Projects team who lead the tendering processes, the appointment and managed contractors during the construction phases and also we must not forget our Council’s Recreation Team who met regularly with the user groups during the advocacy, design and construction phases of the project.
A huge thank you goes to the Carisbrook community and the Recreation Reserve user groups for their patience and support during the entire process. And indeed, Cr De Villiers for her relentless pursuit of ensuring her ward gains the best outcomes.
You all made it happen! We look forward to seeing you all enjoy the facilities for many years to come.
