Park’s huge stadium statement

Yarrawonga Holiday Park Committee of Management have put up a third ($250,000) of the required community fundraising ($750,000) to get the long-desired project on the way.

Committee President Glenn Brear said it’s been long time coming for the community.

“It’s not before time for this new stadium… I see my grandchildren having to travel to other towns to play in basketball tournaments and it’s expensive for the parents.

“To have a new stadium here would not only save parents travelling all the time out of town, but also, we can host our own tournaments bringing a huge benefit to the community, with people spending on accommodation, food etcetera.

“It’s a credit to the Yarrawonga Mulwala Basketball Association for pushing this project for such a long time, hopefully we can see some progress soon.”

The Holiday Park Committee have been major contributors to a large number of worthwhile projects in the community for many years.

“Where there is ongoing value and benefit to the community we will assist,”Mr Brear said.

“Just like we did when we contributed $210,000 towards the All-Abilities Playground in Mulwala.

“We now challenge other organisations to get on-board and show their support to this community fundraising commitment as part of the overall project so we can get this stadium built.”

With a Federal Government grant of $3.3 million towards the project, $7 million from the Victorian Government’s Community Sports and Infrastructure Loan Scheme (capped at a 2.5 per cent interest rate), $2 million from the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund and $250,000 from the Yarrawonga Mulwala Basketball Association, council endorsed in May, 2023 for a community contribution target of $750,000 over a five-year period.

In December 2023, three passionate sporting locals were appointed members of the Yarrawonga Multisport Stadium Fundraising Committee to assist Moira Shire Council through the planning, implementation and coordination of all fundraising activities for the benefit of the stadium.

Long time stadium advocates and Yarrawonga Mulwala Basketball Association members Sue Bigger and Amanda Wheaton were selected as representatives of YMBA while Dario Prighel was selected as a representative of the broader community.

Amanda Wheaton said the fundraising committee needs to get momentum for this project to prove that the community is serious on getting the stadium built.

“This financial contribution from the Holiday Park Committee will certainly help significantly towards the $750,000 community contribution that is needed towards the project,” Mrs Wheaton said.

“It shows the committee’s belief in the project and how vitally important the multisport stadium is for the town’s infrastructure.

“Alongside the $250,000 already pledged from the Yarrawonga Mulwala Basketball Association, this leaves $250,000 that we still need to raise from other people, groups, businesses and larger corporations to reach the final target community contribution figure.

“We are confident that this can be achieved and will be talking to people, businesses and other larger corporations over the coming months to see how they may be able to help contribute to the final amount.”

Mrs Wheaton said the stadium is positioned to start construction after the winter break.

“We are very excited to see some on-the-ground action this year to create this sports hub and gathering place for many groups.”

Moira Shire Council CEO Matthew Morgan welcomed the news of community fundraising for the multisport stadium.

“It’s great to see such community support and connection to the proposed outcomes from the multisport project, including the news of contributions from the holiday park,” Mr Morgan said.

“Just as we have with the Yarrawonga Library, Events and Performance Precinct Project, we are working through some due diligence reviews internally.

“It is a big project with a large budget, and we need to ensure that we are on the mark when it comes to spending community money, both provided by council directly and raised from within the community,” Mr Morgan said.

“Council remains committed to delivering the community outcomes, and these are infrastructure projects that will service the community for the next 80 to 100 years. We need to ensure we get it right the first time.”

Administrator Graeme Emonson spoke on the project recently saying that the multisport stadium is a major and significant project for the Yarrawonga community as one of three flagship projects and has been a much anticipated and long-awaited project for the community.

“I know there is considerable community interest in seeing this project not only delivered but delivered well,” Mr Emonson said.

“One of the key components of embarking upon this project is to, wherever possible, engage and ensure the community is involved.

“We are looking forward to this project getting underway physically.

“I want to thank Sue, Amanda and Dario for putting their names forward to be a part of this important fundraising committee.

“It is a considerable task to raise these sorts of funds for and on behalf of the community and I really want to acknowledge and congratulate them for putting themselves to this project and we sincerely look forward to working with them as they deliver this really important part of our flagship project.”

If you would like to contact the fundraising committee, to discuss a contribution, please make initial contact via email yarramulbasketball@gmail.com.