TROY BELL MP
Member for Mount Gambier
Your Independent voice
in State Parliament
Teaming Up For Gather Cash
Wednesday April 24, 2024Published by The Border Watch by Charlotte Varcoe
MEMBER for Mount Gambier Troy Bell will team up with the City of Mount Gambier in an effort to bring more Gather Round funding to the Blue Lake City.
It comes following a successful Before the Bounce weekend held recently with 100 per cent of Mount Gambier/Berrin accommodation booked out before the Gather Round weekend and a further 95 per cent booked out after.
The City of Mount Gambier recorded a 10 per cent increase in visitations during the weekend with most interstate visitors being from Victoria and New South Wales.
Mr Bell met with Mayor Lynette Martin and other council officials recently to begin planning the deputation which will be made to the premier Peter Malinauskas and other relevant ministers.
Ideas for future Before the Bounce events include obtaining large screens to show the Australian Football League (AFL) games in public spaces as well as upgrading football ovals in hopes to host training sessions with AFL teams or potentially games before the Gather Round schedule.
Ms Martin said the event would have to attract travellers to Mount Gambier/Berrin and the broader Limestone Coast while on their way to the metropolitan event.
"This will also provide economic stimulus which is so important for businesses and our region," Ms Martin said.
"We put on a great event this year and we have been working with the Member for Mount Gambier all along from the beginning." She said Mount Gambier chief executive Sarah Philpott and herself met with relevant ministers last year advocating for support to host a successful Before the Bounce event.
"Unfortunately that support was not able to be gathered this year," Ms Martin said.
"Now we will work with Mr Bell to go back and have a delegation to the Premier's office and ministers." She said she hoped the future event would encourage visitors to spend a few days in Mount Gambier/Berrin and possibly choose to stay rather than travel the rest of the way to Adelaide.
"We want to grow the Before the Bounce event and attract more people and Troy had the idea of having screens and emulating what happened in Norwood which would be fabulous for our city," Ms Martin said.
"It also gives the opportunity for those who cannot go or just want to come to Mount Gambier to participate." She said if there were a "vibrant atmosphere" in the region leading up to the 2025 Gather Round it would be "wonderful and exciting".
"We love our sport here and particularly AFL so we look forward to working with the Premier and ministers to see if we can attract some funding to really enhance the event and look forward to seeing whether we can attract some out of Gather Round games here for Mount Gambier," Ms Martin said.
"We will also look at ways of upgrading and advocating for funding to upgrade infrastructure to enable us to do that because we know we are not going to get Gather Round here in Mount Gambier, it is not the structure of the event but if we can offer games outside Gather Round that would be great." Mr Bell said he spoke with council about the popular sporting event and how Mount Gambier/Berrin and the broader Limestone Coast could maximise the economic return to the community.
"The reality is we are not going to get an AFL game here and that is the AFL saying that not the state government," Mr Bell said.
"We do see $20m of state government money going to Lyndoch and we have got to be proactive in making sure we get our fair share of funding for Gather Round.
"We want to encourage more Victorians to come through Mount Gambier and the lower south east and ideally stay a night to break up their trip while also providing opportunities for our community who cannot afford to go to Gather Round." He said although he knew Mount Gambier/ Berrin would not host a Gather Round game he wanted to work alongside council to advocate for more options.
"Ultimately an AFL game that is outside the Gather Round would be great but we have got to have the facilities to be able to do that," he said.
"Seeing the funding in Lyndoch is a good start and I want to congratulate the effort around securing that funding.
"We now need to be proactive and we have got to make sure we put our best foot forward and present options the state government could invest in with our sporting facilities down here." Mr Bell said the next step would be to work out a proposal and its structure to ensure there were the right structures in place for events to include those in and travelling through Mount Gambier/Berrin.
"The City of Mount Gambier needs to be congratulated for really taking the first steps and the initiative and now it is time to build on that but we need state government assistance and investments," Mr Bell said.