David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Gannons Park is one of the most important parks anywhere in the Banks electorate and is located in Peakhurst. During the football season—or the soccer season as we used to call it—about 1,500 people play football at Gannons Park every Saturday. That's because we've got two of our largest football clubs in the St George region, Forest Rangers and my own club Lagano FC, who share the very large Gannons Park facility. It's incredibly important that Gannons Park is in a fit condition to be used by all of those players.

Last month I was pleased to meet with Forest Rangers, Lagano FC and a number of the executives from Georges River Council. We had a very constructive discussion about the issues at Gannons Park, in relation to drainage, the unevenness of the surface, lighting and so on. I look forward to continuing to work with the council on this issue. It's very important that those 1,500 local families who are represented through Forest Rangers and Lagano FC are able to use that important facility. I do thank the vice-president of Forest Rangers, Brian Faust, and the president of Lagano FC, Hagob Tchamkertenian, for coming along to that important meeting.

The Oatley Seniors Group is a fantastic community organisation. On 31 October I had lunch and a chat with the group. The trivia competition was in progress, and it was good to talk with David Suba, who does so much good work in coordinating the activities of the seniors. It was also good to see representatives of 3Bridges there. In recent times, they have become involved in the management of the Oatley Senior Citizens Centre. That's been a very constructive and positive involvement, which has been welcomed by the Oatley seniors community. It is a fantastic group with a long proud history, and I look forward to continuing to visit in the future.

On 5 November, I visited the 2nd Panania Scout Hall for its 65th anniversary celebrations. It is a strong and proud scouting group in my electorate that has a strong scouting tradition and many active Scout troops. Michael, the grandson of the Scouts founder, and Joan Baden-Powell were there, and it was good to see Scout Group Leader Lionel Pascoe and all the other local Scout leaders and kids. We were successful in securing over $5,000 for the 2nd Panania Scouts, through the Stronger Communities Program, for much-needed work at the hall. That was a very positive development, and I thank Panania Scouts for all their efforts in our community.