Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a great opportunity today for me to provide a bit of an update to members of the Deakin electorate on a range of projects that the former coalition government funded in our area that are coming to fruition—indeed, projects that are going to continue to improve our area and make sure that we invest in the infrastructure that we need.

Firstly, many constituents in the Whitehorse area will have seen that work is progressing very quickly on the Heatherdale Reserve Pavilion. We provided $2 million of funding to kick off this project, and, thankfully, Whitehorse City Council have got involved to assist with the Heatherdale Cricket Club and the Heathmont Jets Junior Football Club home ground. We expect completion of the project by the end of this year in time for at least part of the cricket season. It is an outstanding facility.

Work has also recently begun—again partnering with Whitehorse City Council—on the Sportlink redevelopment, which will see a number of outdoor netball courts covered. This was a project that I was again proud to kickstart with a $1½ million grant to the Whitehorse Netball Association. We will see not only upgraded courts and a roof but also LED lights and improved drainage. This will make sure that all of the players can get on the courts far more often and not be subject to inclement weather. Again, completion of the project will be this summer.

We're also pleased to see that work will commence soon on the Vermont South Club—an important project to increase the capacity of the club.

In Maroondah, we've got a number of projects that are really coming to finalisation, the first being the upgraded pavilion in Cheong Park, for the South Croydon Cricket and Football clubs—a project that was delayed by COVID, but it's getting there. The Ainslie Park Cricket Club and East Ringwood Junior Football Club will soon see the Ainslie Park pavilion upgrade completed. Again, I was pleased to kick this project off with a $500,000 grant. It's now being supported by Maroondah City Council.

A number of local road projects are also coming to fruition. Firstly, there is the notorious intersection at Wantirna Road and Reilly Street. Work is basically done; we're just waiting for VicRoads to signalise and get things going with the new lights. This is going to provide enhanced safety for our community. There is also the Tortice Drive and Warrandyte Road intersection, which we committed $4.8 million towards. Again, that project is with VicRoads. Planning has basically been completed and design has been completed; we're just waiting on VicRoads to get started. These investments from the former coalition government into our area will make our community better.