Glen Park Community Centre is located in Glen Park Road in Bayswater North and has strong emphasis on community development, as well as providing courses for the local community. The Community Centre was recently redeveloped, through a partnership between Glen Park and SCOPE, to provide an accessible facility that can provide an inclusive environment for all people within our community.

This morning Glen Park Community Centre Council held a Picnic in the Park to celebrate the redevelopment of Glen Park Community Centre, as well with other recent improvements, including the redeveloped Sports Pavilion and the new Men’s Shed. Further improvements, such as a new play space will be completed later this year.

In addition, I was invited to launch the redeveloped Glen Park Community Centre and the speech I delivered is included in this post:

Glen Park has a strong emphasis on reconciliation and to commemorate both NAIDOC Week and Glen Park’s commitment I would like to open with the Acknowledgement of Country.

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.

We, Maroondah City Council, accept, respect and have shared with the Wurundjeri people in their customs of welcome.

The Wurundjeri people support the coming together of all people, respecting their individuality to focus on a unified and cohesive nation.

I would like to acknowledge the presence of my fellow Council colleagues, Cr. Ann Fraser, Cr. Tony Dib, Cr. Paul Macdonald and Cr. Natalie Thomas. In addition, I would also like to acknowledge David Hodgett MLA, Member for Kilsyth, Heidi Victoria MLA, Member for Bayswater, Shaun Leane MLC, Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region and Mike Symon MP, Member for Deakin. I would also like to welcome Frank Dixon, the CEO of Maroondah City Council, Helen Croxford, Director of Community and Leisure Services and the many other Council staff in attendance.

We are here today to celebrate the redeveloped Glen Park Community Centre, which received a total grant of $500,000 to complete these works. The Department of Human Services agreed to provide SCOPE a grant of $450,000 to be paid to Council for the redevelopment of the Glen Park Community Centre and $50,000 came via the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) through the Modernising Community Houses program.

The purpose of the grant was to improve the accessibility and usability of the Centre for people with disabilities. The new work was assessed to ensure compliance with AS 1428 ‘Design for access and mobility’. The majority of the work was internal and includes:

• Refurbishment of the eating and internet cafe area
• Refurbishment of the ‘Accessible Toilet’ and women’s toilet
• Construction of an ‘Accessible Toilet and Shower’ for people who require carers
• Alteration of the old football clubrooms to create a craft and general purpose room which can be divided into 2 rooms by a folding door
• New automatic front entry door to the Centre
• Road works to provide a vehicle turning circle for persons using the centre Path from Glen Park Rd to the Centre entrance

These works ensure that Glen Park Community Centre is an accessible facility for all people within our community. I commend the House for its partnership with SCOPE and its commitment towards creating an inclusive community.

These works are part of the Glen Park Future Directions Masterplan and is completed through a range of improvements to the facilities within Bayswater North including:

• Men’s Shed
• Multi Purpose Pavilion (recently opened)
• Tennis court upgrade

Further improvements are also on the way, including the Glen Park Community Play Space which will be completed later on this year.

Glen Park Community Centre has formed a range of partnerships to deliver its services to the community and I congratulate the Centre for its focus on collaboration with a range of organisations, including SCOPE, Maroondah City Council, East Ringwood Junior Football Club, South Croydon Cricket Club, as well as the State and Federal Governments.

Glen Park provides a range of courses covering several creative pursuits, such as social painting, digital story telling, drawing, music and creative writing. These courses are underpinned through the Glen Park Cafe, which serves as a hub and meeting point for the community.

I would like to congratulate the many people that made this redevelopment a reality and I trust that the community will enjoy these refurbished facilities and the services that Glen Park has to offer.