A $1.7 million upgrade of the dilapidated Murrayville’s recreation reserve has moved a step closer to reality after Mildura Rural City Council gave Mallee Track residents a million reasons to smile.
Councillors last week endorsed the allocation of up to $1 million for five projects on the Mallee Track, including the Murrayville sporting facilities, which were built when Sir Robert Menzies was prime minister in the 1960s.
The other projects include the Murrayville Wetlands Project ($150,000), Ouyen Fitness, Health and Wellbeing Centre ($150,000), the Underbool Bowls Artificial Turf Project ($265,716) and Walpeup Hall restoration’s final stage ($25,125).
The funding will come from the council’s 2021-22 budget, paving the way for state and federal grant funding applications to make up the shortfall of the projects’ costs.
The proposed upgrade to the Murrayville reserve would involve the demolition of outdated facilities and construction of a new multi-use building, which will for the first time include female changerooms.
Sunraysia Daily visited the reserve late last year and found the canteen-bar area didn’t have running water and the “shearing shed” changerooms in dire need of an upgrade.
At last week’s council meeting, Deputy Mayor Helen Healy urged the State and Federal governments to kick in their share of funding to make the Mallee Track projects come to fruition.
“We’re presented with an opportunity to get federal and state funding by leveraging this million dollars and expanding it into more projects,” she said.
Council staff listed four possible outcomes to their grant applications, with Cr Healy focusing on option three.
“(It) looks at the outcome if we only receive the state funding, which includes the female-friendly facilities, which are desperately needed, along with the entire recreation reserve at Murrayville,” she said.
“The option lists the full $1 million, in that case, going to the Murrayville recreation reserve.
“The reason I support this is there’s plenty of funding opportunities for the other projects, but not this recreation reserve.
“If we don’t do it now, it’s unlikely to happen as we are unlikely to have (the council’s) $1 million in the future to leverage this kind of funding.
“This is a one-off, once-in-a-generation opportunity for Murrayville to have a desperately needed recreation reserve complex (including) women’s changerooms.
“Murrayville deserves this.”
Cr Healy acknowledged the lobbying of Member for Mallee Anne Webster to help bring about the federal funding.
Murrayville Sporting Hub president Kieran Kelly thanked the councillors for their support, as well as Member for Mildura Ali Cupper in her push for state funding.
Dr Webster late last year visited Murrayville and saw the dire need for upgraded sporting facilities.
“The ball’s pretty much in the Federal Government’s court now,” Mr Kelly said.
