By Tyler Wright
Sport lovers in Monbulk will now be able to access a local basketball court after a push to have accessible sporting facilities available to the community.
A court on the corner of David Hill and Haig Avenue was taken over by Yarra Ranges Council in a land swap arrangement with Monbulk Primary School as part of the school’s upgrades.
The court was blocked off to the public as it did not meet structural requirements for a publicly accessible asset.
In an attempt to increase access to sporting facilities in the area, Monbulk Recreation Reserve Development Group president Paul Utting arranged to have two new basketball rings installed in late July with help from Community Bank Monbulk & District and the Monbulk Bowling Club.
“We had plenty of kids who would jump the fence on weekends to get in there, which we were happy to turn a blind eye to; we basically just wanted to keep out bikes and skateboards onto those new courts because it’s not designed for that,” Mr Utting said.
“Part of it was a number of social media posts that we would see on our local pages saying how terrible it was and there’s nowhere for the kids, and so we’ve provided something that is publicly accessible and hopefully it gets used.”
Bendigo Bank and the Monbulk Bowling Club both contributed $5,000 to the upgrade.
Community Bank Monbulk & District branch manager Aimee Teboekhorst said there has “always been a need” for the facility as there is no basketball court for kids to play on in the town.
“Paul Utting contacted the bowling club and so they donated $5,000 towards the rings going up and he did a grant through the community bank for $5,000,” Ms Teboekhorst said.
“That allowed these new rings, which means this is open for the kids to be able to come and play on anytime they like.”
Parent and coach of the Ranges Basketball Club under 10 boys team, Jodie Jurey, said the new facilities are “great” for the community.
“When the high school is closed during the summer, this will be very handy to have a place to come and be able to train,” she said.
“When you can’t come and train in those holiday breaks they lose a little bit of interest, so it’s great to have something as an option to keep them together as a team and keep them exercising.”
