Community Groups with a love of boats receive support
Two local community groups with a love of boats are being supported through Round 5 grants from the Federal Government’s Stronger Communities Programme.
Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan said the latest grants would improve community safety and help tourism in Port Macquarie.
“Port Macquarie’s beaches and the Hastings River have always played an important role in the town’s development,” he said.
“We need to ensure we do all we can to keep visitors and locals safe while enjoying our beaches and one of these grants will do just that.
“The other two grants, $3,553 for the maritime museum and $9,637 for Rotary Lodge, will provide an injection of cash into local businesses through retail spending and employing tradesmen.”
Brent Wilkinson, Director of Life Saving at the Tacking Point Surf Life Saving Club, said the $7,000 grant would go towards purchasing the most important piece of life saving equipment the club needs.
“Costing about $14,000, inflatable rescue boats (IRBs) are the most expensive piece of equipment surf lifesavers use and they are also our most important piece of equipment,” he said.
“IRBs literally save lives and we use them to reach struggling swimmers and overturned boats.
“We will have three IRBs all up once this new duck is purchased, which will greatly improve our ability to respond to people needing help in the water.”
Mid North Coast Maritime Museum President Ted Kasehagen said the $3,553 grant would provide a new fence for the Flagstaff Hill site.
“The museum has been at 6 William Street in Port since 1991, so we are well set up now in two buildings,” he said.
The maritime museum is open seven days a week and is visited by locals and tourists. It also provides valuable research rooms to volunteers who enjoy researching Port Macquarie’s maritime history.
Port Macquarie Hospital Lodge Association Chairman Phil Hafey said Rotary Lodge had been going for 22 years and now offered 36 rooms to people needing to stay in the town to support a loved one through their hospital treatment.
“Many of the clients we have here are with oncology patients needing care for six to nine weeks at hospital at a time, or they are accompanying maternity patients and cancer patients,” he said.
“Rotary Lodge is located directly next door to Port Macquarie Base Hospital, so clients can simply walk to wherever their loved one is being treated.
“We are finding more and more that people who stay here have their own Stan or Netflix account, so this $9,637 grant combined with our $9,600 funds will enable us to upgrade our television sets so clients will be able to access the same entertainment they would enjoy at home.”
Further Stronger Communities Programme Round 5 grants are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks. The Federal Government has invested a total of $22.65 million nation-wide in Round 5 grants. The electorate of Cowper is expected to receive grants worth a total of $150,000.
