10 Oct 2018 Euroa Gazette, Euroa VIC (General News) by Grace Evans AFTER two seasons of Corella birds ripping up the turf at the Nagambie Lakes Bowling Club, it was coming to a state where it was virtually unusable, until now. The Nagambie bowlers will be the envy of the region when a new premier synthetic turf green is installed at the club following funding from the Andrews Labor Government to complete the $233,210 project. Labor Upper House Member for Northern Victoria, Jaclyn Symes and Labor candidate for Euroa, Fionna Deppeler Morton, visited Nagambie Bowling Club to announce $143,000 in Community Sports Infrastructure funding. With several events conducted at the bowls club, including the Victoria Open which sees over 1800 competitors flocking to region, getting this completed was of high priority. The overall project fee has seen help from several organisations around the shire including the Shire of Strathbogie with $15,000, Bendigo Bank with $10,000 and the Nagambie Bowls Club have also fundraised $50,000. Secretary/Treasurer Fiona Smith said an initial submission for the funding through the Shire of Strathbogie was all made possible through the help of Manager of Tourism, Arts and Culture Claire Taylor working tireless hours to get it completed. The two of us worked really hard together to get this done and received twenty letters of support, Mrs Smith said. The project is well developed and planned and the Nagambie Bowling Club has worked closely with Valley Sport as well as receiving support from Go Nagambie for their funding application With a noticeable growth in the town of Nagambie, Mrs Smith said she think its important that all these people coming into the area have somewhere they can go to play sport and catch up with friends. We were over the moon it really is the biggest thing thats ever happened for this club, Mrs Smith said. With sport deteriorating in younger kids investing in these types of clubs is a great way to encourage them to get involved. We have a lot of sponsors and when the opening day happens we will be inviting all our sponsors, past members and life members. Jaclyn Symes MLC, Northern Victoria said this is an exciting project supported by the Andrews Labor Government that will give the Nagambie Bowling Club, its members and competitors from other clubs the best surface to play on. Nagambie is renowned for its beautiful surroundings and people like to enjoy the outdoors, so I am sure these new investments will be well utilised, Ms Symes said. Ms Deppeler-Morton said the Andrews Labor Government is giving local communities like Nagambie the facilities they need so more locals can participate in the sports they love. Labors Community Sports Infrastructure Fund is developing new sport and active recreation facilities and rejuvenating tired grounds like the Nagambie green and ageing club rooms across the state, Ms Deppler Morton said. In this round of the Community Sports Infrastructure Fund, over 90 projects will be supported across Victoria thanks to a $60 million boost from the Victorian Budget 2018/19.