WITH the Federal Election just over a week away, the Nationals Dr David Gillespie made a number of trips to the southern end of his Lyne electorate last week, bringing with him a bag full of money in funding commitments.

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First stop was the old Hawks Nest Community Library on Booner Street, where he pledged $300,000 for an extension to the building if the Coalition is re-elected.

“There is no doubt there is a need to extend or expand the Centre and this injection of funds will go a long way to this project,” Dr Gillespie said.

“Hopefully, the State and Local government contributions can also be made available towards this project to really make it something special,” he added.

Next stop was the Tea Gardens Hawks Nest Surf Club where he announced another $300,000 of funding to go towards renovations to the club house which sits atop Bennetts Beach.

Construction work is about to begin on a major transformation of the building which includes a lift and major refurbishment of the top floor.

President of the Tea Gardens Hawks Nest Surf Club, Tony Logue said, “This extra funding will enable us to finish off our ground floor renovations, which will improve our training facilities for our volunteer members.”

From an afternoon in Hawks Nest it was off to a ‘Meet the Candidates’ evening at the Tea Gardens Baptist Church, organised by the Hawks Nest Tea Gardens Progress Association.

Dr Gillespie was questioned on a range of topics from the economy to health, education and climate change.

He was able to allay fears in regards to the ongoing supply of the flu vaccination to the Myall region, noting the Ochre Medical Centre would have 500 injections on hand, the maximum at any one time and would be kept supplied.

Later in the week, he was back down south again, this time hitting Karuah with $496,214 in Federal funding to help upgrade Lionel Morten Park.

In total, $1.2 million is being spent on the project, more $650,000 coming from Port Stephens Council and another $50,000 from Cricket NSW.

The project will see the replacement of the existing club amenities with a multi-purpose sports amenities building, complete with a kiosk, referees room, first aid room, home and away unisex change rooms and storage area.

There building will also have shelter from elements in the form of an extended awning.

“I was delighted when the Minister informed me the money had been secured for this important local community project,” Dr Gillespie said.

“I have enjoyed watching a number of Roos games here in the past and I know the club and the players will most certainly welcome this major upgrade.”

By: Margie TIERNEY