Central Ringwood Community Centre is located in Bedford Park in Ringwood and serves as a community based facility, providing courses, as well as meeting facilities for other groups. In recent years the Community Centre has had a strong focus on Maroondah’s emerging communities, through providing programs for refugees from Sudan, as well as Burma.

In addition, the Centre has maintained a number of programs for people with disabilities and accessibility is one of the core priorities for the staff and Committee of Management.  This morning I was invited to officially open the upgrades to Central Ringwood Community Centre, which provide accessibility improvements in the form of a new meeting room and accessible toilets and change facilities.

The project was a joint partnership between the Federal Government and the City of Maroondah.  The Federal Government invested $200,000 for the upgrades with Council managing the project and delivering the improvements.

The speech I delivered at the opening is available within this post:

Good morning and welcome to the opening of the Central Ringwood Community Centre Activity Room.

In the spirit of Reconciliation, we acknowledge that we are meeting on land for which the Wurundjeri people have been custodians for many centuries, and on land which the Indigenous Australians have performed age old ceremonies.

On behalf of the Maroondah community I would like to thank The Honourable Wayne Swan, Federal Treasurer, and Mr Mike Symon, Federal Labor Member for Deakin, for their attendance here today.

I would also like to welcome Ms Heidi Victoria MLA, Member for Bayswater and my fellow Maroondah Councillors, Cr Tony Dib, Cr Ann Fraser, Cr Paul Macdonald and Cr Natalie Thomas.

I am pleased to see so many participants and user groups here today together with staff and committee members from the Central Ringwood Community Centre. It is also pleasing to welcome:

• Mr Leigh Mattingley – Architect from Mattingley Courtney Pty Ltd
• Mr Pat Di Fabio – Builder from Everline Connections and many of the Council staff who have been involved in this project.

Central Ringwood Community Centre facilitates a large range of activities and classes on a weekly basis. The centre is available to all members of the community and has a strong emphasis on Maroondah’s emerging communities, as well as people with disabilities.

This upgrade will provide current and new users of the centre, a safe and pleasant environment to meet and conduct their programs.

This room was initially home to the Ringwood Boxing Club for many years, who are now in transition to their new home in the Jubilee Park Soccer re-development, a more suitable location where the Club will be with other sporting groups. This is another fantastic example of the several tiers of Local/governments working together to deliver positive outcomes for our community.

The Baby Change Room and Accessible Toilet will be a practical addition for the Playgroup room, which is located on the lower floor where 70 families and their 105 children attend each week. Having the toilet downstairs broadens the opportunity for programs for people with Special Needs.

On behalf of Council and the facility users, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Federal Government for its contribution. Without their funding support of $200,000 this project would not have been possible.

Council would like to acknowledge the dedication of the Centre Staff and Committee in working with Council to see the project to its conclusion. I would specifically like to acknowledge Council’s Senior Capital Projects Officer, Graeme Stephenson, who managed this project on behalf of Council.

Congratulations to everyone for their commitment and dedication to this project.