State Member for Essendon, Danny Pearson MP has announced funding of $1.5 million to redevelop the Riverside Golf and Tennis Centre (RG&TC) in Ascot Vale.
The facility will house the Parkville Netball Competition (PNC) during the redevelopment of the State Netball & Hockey Centre (SNHC).
PNC is the largest domestic competition in Victoria, with over 5,000 players participating in the competition every week.
Pearson’s announcement comes after the Andrews Government last week committed to $64.6 million funding for the redevelopment of the SNHC, the home of netball in Victoria for nearly 100 years.
The upgrade of RG&TC to compliant competition standard courts, will enable PNC outdoor competitions to be relocated to the venue and ensure that PNC netballers will continue to be able to play the sport they love despite construction at SNHC.
Netball Victoria CEO, Rosie King was pleased with the additional funding from the State Government which will provide certainty for the 5,000+ players who converge on the SNHC each week. With more than 1200 of these residing in the City of Moonee Valley, RG&TC provides a perfect location for the temporary move.
“This is a fantastic result for netball in Victoria and I cannot thank the State Government enough for the significant announcements in the last few days,” said King.
“It is so encouraging to see the commitment to our sport, and I am excited to see how it will continue to grow with these projects.”
Rosie expressed her delight in securing this outcome for the Parkville Netball Competition and also local netball users such as the Essendon District Netball Association and their clubs who utilise the facilities at Riverside.
“The redevelopment of the State Netball and Hockey Centre is an exciting process, and we’re grateful that we are able to continue business as usual for all of our Parkville participants in the process.”
The improvements to the Riverside Golf and Tennis Centre are due to begin later this year.
2018 Parkville Netball Competition Spring Entries are now open, with the new season expected to run interrupted prior to the commencement of works onsite in Parkville.
Details on competitions can be found here.
