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Footy faces cool change
Matthew Piggott in action. (Justin Flynn)
Ocean Grove continues to make progress with its young list following a 29-point defeat to premiership contender Drysdale in the Bellarine Football League. It was an exciting game between the two teams on Saturday, May 25, with Drysdale taking out the win in the second half, despite the Grubbers putting up a fight. While the Grubbers remain winless, they did play well in a 14-point loss to an impressive Newcomb in round seven and will wrap up the first half of the season this week with a game against Anglesea. With the weather looking to be a little grim this weekend, Grovedale is gearing up to take on St Albans at Burdoo Reserve on Saturday, June 1. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecasted a high of 15 degrees with a medium chance of showers on Saturday.
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■ Turn to page 26 for the full story on the
Ocean Grove vs Drysdale game.
NBAC open for winter By Matt Hewson Bellarine swimming enthusiasts will be able to enjoy their new aquatic facility all year round after Geelong councillors decided to keep the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre (NBAC) open throughout winter and autumn. The council voted unanimously at Tuesday night’s meeting to keep the centre open at reduced hours between the start of June and the end of October. Through that period the 50-metre heated pool will open weekdays from 6am to 10am and Saturdays from 8am to 12pm. NBAC had not been budgeted to open at all from April through October for financial
reasons, however a successful urgent business item spearheaded by mayor and Bellarine Ward councillor Trent Sullivan at the council’s March meeting saw it remain open until the end of May. City officers prepared a report for this week’s meeting offering two options; the first was the reduced hours option adopted by the council this week, while the second was to stick to the current budget and close the outdoor pool for five months. Officers’ recommendation was to close the pool as planned, citing a cost to ratepayers of $423,723 to keep the centre open. All three Bellarine Ward councillors – Mayor
Sullivan, Cr Jim Mason and Cr Elise Wilkinson – strongly endorsed the reduced hours option. “The North Bellarine have quickly taken this pool into their heart and are very protective of it and I’m certainly supportive of the motion to keep it open all year round,” Mayor Sullivan said. “When you see the passion from the community, when you see a petition come across your desk that has over 2000 signatures… I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one that large or that many signatories come across the chamber in my nigh on seven years on council.” Cr Wilkinson thanked the community for making their voices heard on the NBAC issue. “We hear from people every day, stories of
social connection, of improved health outcomes, of being able to exercise with young adults and children with neurodiversity, that find indoor pools actually really overwhelming,” she said. “So this is a really important asset in our community. And while ideally I would like to see it open seven days a week and all the time, this is a compromise, and a sound compromise.” Cr Mason pointed out the Kardinia Aquatic Centre was more costly to keep open than NBAC despite its higher patronage. “This is another service like libraries, like aged care, like childcare and other services, and they cost,” he said.
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