Griffith Community Centre’s battle to secure funding is still continuing, and after almost a decade and continual submissions, no funding has been able to be accessed to push the green light to build a new, updated and much-needed facility.
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Griffith Community Centre’s Coordinator Barbara Penninga has had the plans for the new building ready to go, but says the extreme difficulty in securing the $3.4 million funding necessary to build the facility has made it impossible to move forward.
And it’s not from lack of trying: In the last attempt, the centre put forward a Business Case and Application for Funding in May 2017, but was unsuccessful.
A Development Application for a new building proposed on the current site in Benerembah Street was approved by GCC in 2014, however the organisation has since painstakingly scoured the town for another appropriate location.
The current plan is proposed to go on Olympic Street and Ulong Lane, which is Crown Land under trusteeship of GCC.
The organisation has submitted successive proposals over seven years to Adrian Piccoli (then MP), Kevin Humphries MP, Brad Hazzard MP, John Ajaka MP, Jai Rowell MP, Gabrielle Upton MP and also GCC, Brett Stonestreet in 2016, and Melva Robb at Crown Lands in 2017, with the first submission handed to Peter Brooks and Mike Neville in 2011.
After hiring a professional to put a grant application together, Ms Penninga has been continually adding to it as the years progress to continue trying, albeit unsuccessfully.
Huge support exists within the community, including in-principle support from GCC, to build the new facility, yet voices apparently need to become louder to attract the attention of the Government.
Griffith Youthlink’s Manager Deb Longhurst committed to future partnered projects and programs in 2017, believing the new building “is an appropriate and essential to the future needs of the young people of Griffith.”
Ms Penninga says the current facility is unacceptable any longer.
“The current facility has fundamental challenges. It is in poor condition; Its design and space requirements do not meet design, health and safety standards or the needs of current service providers… community needs remain unmet and aspirations are not realised,” Ms Penninga said.
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“Social infrastructure is a critical component of community well-being with the social benefits, outweighing the financial costs.”
Guiding Griffith 2040 highlights the identified the need for a multi-purpose centre to meet identified goals to the multi-purpose centre being the vehicle for a range of needs, issues and aspirations to be met.
Griffith City Council was approached for comment.