Richard Marles commits to reviving Geelong CBD with Stretch Kontelj

During a visit to Norlane scout hall on Wednesday to announce $660,000 of funding, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles used another Victorian regional town as an example of how Geelong can bring its CBD back to life.

Richard Marles says he is committed to working with Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj to revitalise central Geelong, pointing to another regional Victorian town as inspiration.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Corio MP said on Wednesday that he would work alongside Mr Kontelj to “bring the CBD to life”.

“There is a lot that needs to be done there and I’m very happy to work with the Mayor,” Mr Marles said.

“Over my time as the member for Corio, I have worked with successive mayors of Geelong to see how we can revitalise the CBD.

“There is a lot that needs to be done there.”

Mr Marles, whose Corio electorate takes in the CBD, said more could be done to leverage both the heritage value of central Geelong and it’s positioning as a student town.

“If you look at Ballarat … it is amazing the way in which heritage is celebrated in the CBD, and I actually think we can take a lesson from Ballarat in relation to that,” he said.

“One of the real opportunities for the (Geelong) CBD is that as a university town with the Deakin campus on the waterfront, more students (could be) making their home during term time.

“That offers the opportunity to get economic activity going in the CBD and breathe life into it.”

Mr Kontelj, a former Liberal candidate in Corio, campaigned largely of rejuvenating central Geelong.

“At the moment, downtown CBD looks like a third-rate country, it’s an embarrassment, really, an absolute disaster,” he said.

Federal Regional Minister Catherine King, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, and Lara MP Ella George celebrate funding for the Norlane Scouts. Picture: Alison Wynd.

Mr Marles made the comments alongside Regional Development Minister Catherine King, with the pair announcing federal funding of $25m for eight community infrastructure projects across Victoria.

Included among those was $660,000 for the complete rebuild of the Norlane West Scout and Community Centre, which Mr Marles said would be completed by the end of this year.

Scouts Victoria will jointly fund and manage the project, which will see a multipurpose centre replace the existing 70-year-old facility.

It will include a flexible activity space, two community meeting rooms, and communal facilities, including a kitchen and outdoor spaces.

Mr Marles said Norlane was “doing it tougher” than other areas in the region.

“Which is why having community engagement here is incredibly important,” he said.

“This is going to be a really important community asset here in Norlane, which will be able to be rented out to other groups from time to time.”

Norlane West Scouts’ Kim Upton said the project would enable the group to become more inclusive with new disability access.

“This is really exciting for our group, we’ve been advocating for a new building for a number of years now,” she said.

The scout group is looking to relocate to a Northern Bay Secondary School campus during construction.

The Norlane funding amount was dwarfed by the $8.5m for the Eastwood Leisure Complex redevelopment in Ballarat, and $6.3m for the Gippsland Lakes Shared Community Hub in Paynesville.

Originally published as Richard Marles commits to reviving Geelong CBD with Stretch Kontelj