Court Upgrade Bulletin #2

During September 2008, the Committee started the process to upgrade Court 3 with the installation of floodlights and conversion to a water-free synthetic surface. Council has assigned the necessary technical support and it is expected that a contract with the supplier will be signed before Christmas. Most suppliers are now quite busy but the Committee is hopeful that the project will be finished in time for the Autumn 2009 season. This project will be fully funded by our club reserves and cost approximately $50,000.

During September, the Committee responded to Banyule City Council’s invitation to submit an application for a Sport and Recreation 2009/2010 Community Facility Funding Program Grant. Committee members worked closely with council representatives to develop a proposal for the upgrade of Courts 4, 5, 6 and 7 to a water-free synthetic surface. On 20 October, Dietmar Mueller formally appeared before the Council to reiterate the case set out in our application as part of the formal consideration of eight expressions of interest from community organisations. The Council unanimously supported our application and two others for Minor Facilities Grants. We now move forward for consideration by Sport and Recreation Victoria during the state government’s 2009/2010 budget deliberations. It is very encouraging to receive Council support and the Committee remains optimistic that the state government will also see the benefit of funding our redevelopment. We will know the outcome when the State Government announces its next budget in May 2009. If successful, SRV will provide a $60,000 grant, Banyule City Council $80,000 funding and VBTC will fund the balance of the project, estimated to be approximately $40,000.