Established in 1981 as the
proudly serving Sunbury and Macedon Ranges
11 FEBRUARY, 2025
Five years of repairs
Sunbury Neighbourhood House community development coordinator Cathy Grose, and Sunbury Repair Cafe volunteers Andy Paul, Trevor Greenham, Trish Casta, Robert Camilleri, David Thornton, Pat Dunn, and Sharon Ross. (Ljubica Vrankovic). 456339_03
Repair Cafe Sunbury is marking its fifth birthday, celebrating five years of repairs, community connection, and skill sharing. A volunteer-run program of Sunbury Neighbourhood House, the cafe forms part of the wider repair cafe movement that began in Amsterdam, where residents hand in their broken or damaged items to be repaired, helping to prevent excess landfill. Repair Cafe Sunbury volunteer Sharon Ross said the group has prevented 732 kilograms of items from being discarded during its five years of operation. “It’s pretty amazing … we’ve had over 690 different items brought in to be repaired,” Ms Ross said. “It’s not just about the repairing, it is about connecting with the community, and we have a lot of repeat visitors who come back month after month … we love to see them and catch up with them.” Neighbourhood House community development co-ordinator Cathy Grose said she is proud of the program and the fact that “all of the people involved are really great people, [are] really generous and skilled, and they enjoy giving back to the community”. She said the group is looking for more likeminded volunteers. The repair cafe will run on Saturday, February 15, running from 10am–12.30pm, with a birthday cake cut at 11am.
Pool improvement proposals Local residents are calling on Hume council to clean-up and improve the Sunbury Aquatic and Leisure Centre. Suggested improvements for the site include enclosing the outdoor pool and aesthetic repairs. They have also been calls for the facility to be rebuilt. The comments com as Hume council begins preparing a master plan for the centre. Sunbury resident Patrick Esse said while the 25-metre pool has been repaired, he feels the facility “needs a pretty good clean-up”.
“The hydropool and everything like that needs a good facelift, probably a good painting … the council needs to clean it up out the front and make it more presentable,” he said. Former Hume councillor and Sunbury resident Jack Medcraft said he proposes enclosing the existing outdoor pool to create a single indoor facility, aiming to increase the amount of pools suitable for year-round use. “I asked them to put that on the master plan … [The Melton Waves Leisure Centre] is probably the equivalent of what I’d be looking for,” Mr Medcraft said.
He proposes that this added indoor pool could have heating and cooling to make it accessible for 360 days of the year, with a ceiling that could be opened or closed based on the weather conditions. “It just adds to the availability of a facility that is pretty much up to speed … over all, it’s a really good setup, it would just enhance the overall experience of using the [centre],” he said. “The growth that’s going to happen in Sunbury, we really need an up-to-date facility that will cater for the increased population … Sunbury in the next 10 years will probably
double in population.” Another former Hume councillor and Sunbury resident, Trevor Dance, said he believes some of the centre’s issues have been “ignored.” “Finally, it’s at [a] point to stop these Band-Aid fixes and commit to a brand-new aquatic centre on the current site,” Mr Dance said. A council spokesperson said the masterplan will inform the future development of the facility to meet the community needs of Sunbury.
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