Good sports grants- Seymour MP Ben Hardman and Melbourne Water project director Rod Clifford w

By Monique Ebrington
SPORT, recreation and community groups in Yarra Glen will receive $2 million in grants from Melbourne Water’s Regional Benefits Grants Program.
The successful facilities and clubs that will receive funding were announced last Thursday 10 September.
Yarra Glen Football and Netball Club and Yarra Glen Junior Football Club were among 31 successful community groups across Dixons Creek, Glenburn, Homewood, Kinglake, Steels Creek, Toolangi, Yarra Glen and Yea to share in $5 million in grants.
Yarra Junction Junior Football Club president Dean Stevenson said the $350,000 the club would receive was the perfect was to end the year.
“To start the year as we did, with such tragic circumstances, and then to receive the support from the community and small grants throughout the year … this is the icing on the cake,” Mr Stevenson said.
Mr Stevenson said the upgrade would be a great benefit to the club and wider community.
“This funding is a great win for so many reasons. This won’t just be a short-term benefit,” he said.
The money will go towards netball courts, an additional spectator shelter, new meeting rooms, a new canteen and kitchen, additional public toilets and improved lighting in and around the grounds.
Melbourne Water project director Rod Clifford said that Melbourne Water recognised that when it was building the Sugarloaf Pipeline it impacted on communities such as Yea and Yarra Glen. “These grants are really our way of saying, thank you for putting up with us for the past couple of years,” Mr Clifford said.
Some of the larger grants to also receive funding include $452,381 towards upgrades to the Yarra Glen Hall and its facilities, $300,000 towards the construction of a skate park facility in the Yea township, $200,000 towards upgrades to Steels Creek Community Centre and $150,000 towards the construction of the C.J. Dennis Centennial Walking Track in Toolangi.