Six Barron River community halls receive share of $2m for upgrades

Northern Cairns community groups once in fear of permanent closure have received significant lifelines to rebuild their flood-ravaged venues. Where the $2m will be spent

Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services Amanda Camm and Barron River MP Bree James at the Machans Beach Community Hall announcing $2m for six organisations to upgrade and repair venues in northern Cairns. L-R: Stratford Bowls Club secretary Stuart Rifkin, Ms James, Machans Beach Community Association vice president Brett Hitchens, Ms Camm, Machans Beach Community Association president Letitia Choppy and Stratford Bowls Club president Simone Miller.

Northern Cairns community groups once in fear of permanent closure have received significant lifelines to rebuild their flood-ravaged venues.

Member for Barron River Bree James selected six organisations in her electorate to receive a share of $2m that were still “in recovery,” almost two years on from Cyclone Jasper.

Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services Amanda Camm visited the Machans Beach Community Hall on Tuesday to deliver the announcement.

“We are committed to ensuring that, that recovery delivers resilience, but also delivers improvements, so those community organisations are well equipped,” Ms Camm said.

Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services Amanda Camm and Barron River MP Bree James at the Machans Beach Community Hall announcing $2m for six organisations to upgrade and repair venues in northern Cairns.

Ms James said the community halls along the northern beaches, as well as Stratford, Kuranda and Koah had all played roles in emergency shelter during the 2023 floods.

“So that was my analysis of the halls that were really on the ground during the Jasper floods, the ones that were there for the community,” Ms James said.

Machans Beach Community association president Letitia Choppy said the local facility which would receive $562,240 had never received an upgrade since it was built in 1961 by volunteers.

The Machans Beach Community Hall, built in 1961, will receive $562,240 for upgrades.

She said the Machans Beach venue had housed 57 residents and nine dogs during the floods, while enduring “six big holes in the roof.”

Vice president Brett Hitchens said the hall would undergo extension works to include an upgraded kitchen, new showers and a separate counselling room, while retaining the “character of this wonderful wooden building.”

Stratford Bowls Club president Simone Miller said the water damage sustained by the green and venue was so significant the organisation struggled to operate, and turn a profit for almost a year.

Ms Miller said with the help of separate joint federal and state $523,000 grant awarded earlier this year, repairs to the building were already underway.

Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services Amanda Camm and Barron River MP Bree James speaking with members of the community at the Machans Beach Community Hall.

“This is going to enable us to do is to actually complete the repair and restoration the building itself,” she said.

Club secretary Stuart Rifkin said without the government grants, the organisation’s future post flooding looked bleak.

“We thought we’d fall over, we honestly didn’t think we’d survive,” he said.

The funding awarded to each club has been a capital payout, with each organisation anticipating completion of works late next year.

The six organisations selected:

– $352,000 for the Kuranda Hall (Queensland Country Women’s Association)

– $350,000 for the Stratford Bowls Club

– $321,000 for the Koah Hall (Mareeba Shire Council)

– $150,000 for the Yorkeys Knob Community Hall (Cairns Regional Council)

– $562,240 for the Machans Beach Hall (Machans Beach Community Association)

– $250,000 for the Holloways Beach Community Hall (Cairns Regional Council)

Originally published as Six Barron River community halls receive share of $2m for upgrades