Ravaged Newbridge footy club to rebuild

By Tanya Paolucci
Updated November 7 2012 - 6:19am, first published October 9 2011 - 10:09am
STARTING OVER: Newbridge Football Netball Club presdient Ron Trimble, front, with Allen Brownbill, Geoff Curnow, Allan Stobaus, Hedley Price and Damian Drum.
STARTING OVER: Newbridge Football Netball Club presdient Ron Trimble, front, with Allen Brownbill, Geoff Curnow, Allan Stobaus, Hedley Price and Damian Drum.

  • Editorial: Momentous day as club rebuilds DEMOLITION will begin at the flood-ravaged Newbridge Recreation Reserve tomorrow.The reserve, which suffered severe damage to most of its facilities in January, has received funding from the state government’s Flood Recovery for Community Infrastructure Fund to start the removal process.It is a significant milestone for the reserve, which is home to the Newbridge Football Netball Club and the Newbridge Tennis Complex.Loddon Shire community and recreation development manager Allan Stobaus said the Newbridge community welcomed the demolition. Gallery: Newbridge Recreation Reserve“It’s fantastic because it’s been sitting there as a bit of an eyesore since January,” he said.“It’s given the community a bit of enthusiasm as we move ahead with the bigger project.”Demolition works will be focused on the pavilion, tennis court and toilet block, which were all damaged by floodwater.Newbridge Recreation Reserve president Hedley Price said there were plans to rebuild the reserve pavilion as soon as funding allowed it.“We’ve also just sent in an application for more funding for the new pavilion, for which we have plans drawn up,” he said.“From then, we will wait for approval from the DSE for funding, and once we have the approval for that we will then move on to tenders for project manager.“We’re just going to chip away at things, but it is really good to see something starting to happen, which is good for the morale of the community.”Newbridge Football Netball Club president Ron Trimble said he was thrilled that football and netball would return to Newbridge in 2012.“We will most definitely have footy back here next year,” he said.“We do have temporary facilities here and we can add to those to make sure we’ve got enough conveniences to house a home game.“We will play all of our football and netball here next year, which is fantastic.”Mr Trimble said the rebuilding of the reserve could not have happened without community support.“It’s been tremendous,” he said.“We have raised about $300,000. 3BO, the Bendigo Bank and The Footy Show have all come on board and have also had lots of pledges through monetary donations from members.“The fundraising thing was a real concern at the start, but we’ve demonstrated to the government that this community wants to go ahead and rebuild.”
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