Last Sunday I joined many young community members in Birregurra to officially
open the Birregurra Skate Park, and what a great start to National Youth Week it
was. It is always a pleasure to be in Birregurra, as it really leads the way for
small Victorian townships in terms of community involvement and participation.
It was another great opportunity to speak with the community on local issues,
and it is obvious that the community members are fully committed to working to
ensure that Birregurra continues to be a fantastic place to live and raise a
family. Over 200 community members were at the skate park on Sunday —
teenagers, as well as some extremely excited little girls and boys equipped with
scooters, skateboards and BMX bikes.
I would like to congratulate the community on the in-kind
contributions to the project and specifically mention the McCormack family and
another members of the project committee for their tireless work.
The Brumby Labor government contributed $60 000 under the
Community Facility Funding program for the development of the skate park, and
the Shire of Colac Otway contributed $40 000, with $35 000 being contributed by
the Birregurra community itself, as well as $8200 from the Birregurra Lions
Club. This is another great example of a local community, local government and
the state government working together to serve the needs of youth in our smaller
communities.