Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For those members of this place who do not know the eastern suburbs of Melbourne—as I am sure you do, Madam Deputy Speaker Burke—the Maroondah City Council takes in the eastern half of my electorate of Deakin. Covering suburbs such as Ringwood, Ringwood East and Ringwood North, Heathmont, Croydon, Croydon South and Bayswater North, it is a great part of Melbourne and a place that I have called home for 25 years or more.

There is a lot going on in Maroondah in terms of new construction and refurbishments at the moment. The local recreation and leisure facilities in particular are getting a lot of attention, and that is something I know the local community is really pleased about. Some of this has come about through Labor Party election commitments in the 2007 campaign, some has come about through the Rudd government’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program, and some has come from Maroondah City Council and the Victorian state Labor government. This partnership in the delivery of funding to community recreation facilities has helped to get more done in a shorter period of time than any single level of government could achieve in a suburban local government area.

I was grateful to Maroondah Mayor Peter Gurr and the director of community and leisure services, Helen Croxford, for taking the time two weeks ago to show me some of the fantastic projects that are underway there right now. The council are doing a great job getting the work done expertly and quickly. For example, the Rudd government has invested a total of $325,000 for upgrades at the Ringwood Aquatic Centre, including a refurbishment of the pool water filtration system that, when commissioned in the next few weeks, will allow for around one million litres of water per year to be reused in the pool. There will also be the installation of a new cogeneration plant to deliver efficiencies in power and heat production and reduce the aquatic centre’s carbon footprint by 526 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum, the equivalent of taking 122 cars off the road.

The Ringwood Aquatic Centre is a well-loved and well-used pool in Ringwood. So many people visit it, from local families during the summer and the winter to the swimming program kids from the primary schools during the week. The place always seems to be busy. I would really like to commend the great staff at the aquatic centre for the work they do in making sure the centre is running smoothly—everyone from the lifeguards by the pool to those who make sure the water quality is as good as it gets.

Little athletics is also an important part of the sporting community in Deakin, with quite a number of clubs. Croydon Little Athletics, one of the very successful athletics clubs in Deakin, is located in the same building as the Croydon U3A, a partnership that both groups benefit from. I was very pleased to visit the construction site next to the athletics track to see work in progress on the extensions to the building. The work the Maroondah City Council is doing here, funded by the Rudd government as an election commitment along with a contribution from the council, will see both the U3A and the little athletics club enjoying better storage and amenities. I am looking forward to attending the opening of the new building and facilities in the next few weeks as work is now almost complete.

Dorset Golf Course is also an important part of Maroondah City Council’s leisure facilities. It is used by many of my constituents. Indeed, in my younger days, when I had the time, it was a favourite course of mine as it was close to home. I was pleased to turn the first sod on the upgrade of their facilities in the middle of September. When I visited again just four weeks later, I was very surprised by how quickly the community rooms were being refurbished and how much work had happened since I had been there only a short time before. The work is progressing very well. The new water-saving measures that are included in this project will help make the course even more sustainable in the long term. The golf driving range is also getting a refurbishment and very soon Dorset Golf Course will be even better than it already is. Importantly, this project is also supporting 25 local jobs. This is another project funded under the Rudd government’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program, which was voted against in this House by those opposite just a few short months ago.

I am also delighted that in a few weeks the Ringwood soccer pavilion, a building that has not been refurbished since it was first built in the 1960s, will be demolished. This will make way for a new pavilion. The new pavilion will also include facilities for women, and it will much easier for women’s and girl’s teams to use the grounds than currently. The Rudd government is contributing $2.9 million to the project, with another $600,000 coming from the Maroondah City Council and the Victorian state Labor government.

I look forward to working with the Maroondah City Council not only on these projects but on the many projects I am sure will come in the future. It is a great commendation for both the council and the state government that all three levels of government can work in a local government area to achieve these great outcomes for the local community. (Time expired)