Bega Valley Shire Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick and Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain at the Cobargo basketball court. Photo: Marion Williams.
A youth recreational precinct in Cobargo has received $100,000 to formalise the parking area to make it more accessible and usable.
Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain met Bega Valley Shire Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick at the recently completed netball and basketball court on Monday (17 June) to formally announce the funding from the Federal Government’s Investing in Our Communities Program.
Mr Fitzpatrick said work crews would start there after completing some scheduled roadworks around the shire, “hopefully before the end of the year, weather permitting”.
The precinct has taken years to materialise. Tania Lingard, a member of Cobargo Green Recovery, said Cobargo Skate Club started fundraising for the skate park in 2006 and finished it in March 2012. The project also received some grant funding.
“We built the BMX track in 2018 when they did the Dignams Creek bypass and we got 1000 tonnes of free landfill,” Ms Lingard said.
Next came the multiuse netball and basketball court that was officially opened in August 2023 at the last youth event that was organised by Cobargo Green Recovery. The group formed in July 2020 to help the community recover after the Black Summer bushfires. It ran a number of grant-funded youth events as members felt the village’s young people needed a lift after the bushfires and COVID.
Ms McBain said the precinct was the base for the volunteers from BlazeAid who worked in Cobargo after the bushfires.
“Because BlazeAid was here for so long, people could see the benefit of having a recreational facility here. It has been a long-held belief it should be a recreational facility,” she said.
Ms Lingard said from talking to parents with children, the facilities were well used.
“It would be better if PCYC and Reclink were still running programs there, but they have run out of funding. They were getting a lot of kids there after school.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said the community had done a great job of fundraising and the $100,000 would provide around 20 car spaces that could also be used by cricket and football teams who use the adjoining Narira Sports Ground.
“These little communities need things like this for young people to do,” he said.
Last week Ms McBain also announced $500,000 for the Merimbula Skate Park from the same Federal Government program.
“It is those recreational projects that make a difference to the community,” she said.
Bega Valley Shire Council CEO Anthony McMahon was also present. He said the roadworks on Wallaga Lake Road had halted due to the discovery of a midden.
The work commenced on 3 April and was to take up to 10 weeks. It involved stabilising and resurfacing the road and installing kerb, gutter and drainage between Lake View Drive at Wallaga Lake and Fairhaven Point Way in Fairhaven. Mr McMahon said it could take a long time to resume the work.
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