Suburban Rail Loop’s cash splash for sport clubs outside project zones

A Suburban Rail Loop $250m community grants fund is splashing cash on clubs more than 5km from the project zone, prompting affected communities to slam the splurge as “bribery”.

A $250m community grants fund set up as part of the controversial Suburban Rail Loop project is splashing cash on clubs more than 5km from the route.

The taxpayer-funded scheme has so far doled out more than $3m for sports scoreboards, theatre productions, podcasts, and even to increase “diversity and inclusion in Ultimate Frisbee”.

Some residents in affected areas have criticised the spendathon as “politicised funding” and “bribery”, while communities in Melbourne’s long-suffering west are outraged.

The splurge comes as thousands of public servants are set to be axed and Victoria’s record net debt is projected to reach $165bn by 2026.

But the government has defended the program, saying all applications are “evaluated on their merit”.

Blackburn Cycling Club will utilise a $10,000 bonus for mowers, industrial blowers and brush-cutters for maintenance. Picture: Facebook

The first round of the SRL Community Projects Fund awarded organisations grants of $10,000 to $80,000, with larger proposals yet to be assessed.

Stage one of the $125 billion rail loop will be a 26km link between Cheltenham and Box Hill, with six new underground stations.

The project says the grant scheme’s objectives are to “support, strengthen and enhance healthy, safe and sustainable local communities and places in the SRL East Precincts surrounding the future stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill and in other areas in the vicinity of SRL East surface infrastructure”.

The precincts mentioned in guidelines are areas up to 1.6km from rail hubs.

But several sports clubs given grants through the scheme are located several kilometres from station sites — and some are in different postcodes altogether.

Notting Hill Brandon Park Cricket Club was granted $18,100 for a new synthetic cricket pitch, despite its training ground being 5.6km walking distance from the planned Monash station.

Mentone and St Bedes Football Club are receiving $80,000 as part of the grant for lighting at the sportsground. Picture: supplied

Mentone and St Bede’s Football Club was handed $80,000 to upgrade lights, while it is 4.1km from the proposed Cheltenham station.

East Burwood Football and Netball Club won $10,750 to run training programs with AFL stars and recruit more players back to the sport following Covid-19 even though its ground is 3.5km from the future Glen Waverley station.

Residents have expressed disbelief on social media at some of the grants, describing them as “buying communities’ favour” or even “bribes”.

“I just can’t see why SRL should be giving grants to organisations not really impacted by the project,” one resident said.

One club which received funding admitted: “I don’t know what the connection between SRL and community sport is, but it (the grant application) is a fairly rigorous process.”

Another club’s representative noted they were required to invite a member of the SRL team or government to attend their events.

Dr Joe Garra ran as an independent candidate for Point Cook last year.

The cash splash sparked outrage in Melbourne’s west, where Werribee South Ratepayers Association president Dr Joe Garra, who ran as an independent for the seat of Point Cook last year, pointed to discrepancies between southeast and western suburbs funding.

When there had been a series of level crossing removals in his area, the community had asked the state to upgrade stations at the same time but this was denied, he said.

Dr Garra said many community sports clubs in the west were also in need of funding for upgrades but had not received government support.

Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman David Southwick called for more transparency.

“Taxpayers’ money must not be used to buy off local communities and every dollar spent on our major projects must deliver genuine value for money,” he said.

“With Labor’s major projects over budget by $30 billion and counting, we cannot afford to continue wasteful spending.”

When asked about the grant guidelines focusing on precinct communities, the SRL Authority said “consideration was also given to projects outside these areas if applicants demonstrated that projects would benefit people from SRL precincts”.

A spokeswoman said: “SRL is a massive project – both the benefits it delivers and the impacts of disruption during construction will go beyond the areas immediately around the stations. The Community Projects Fund has been developed with this in mind.

“Applications were assessed by a senior panel convened by Suburban Rail Loop Authority, then reviewed by an independent probity advisor.”

A government spokesman said the SRL grants would be scaled up “to support the priorities of communities around SRL – from small grants for local organisations to significant investments in community infrastructure like parks, community centres and public open space”.

Senior Andrews government Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the intent of the grants program had been “misconstrued”.

“We do know that major projects cause significant disruption, there’s absolutely no doubt about that,” she said.

“We want to ensure that the people in the community can continue to enjoy the very best amenity that Melbourne suburbs deliver.

“To ensure that the program continues to meet its objectives, we’ll have a look at those guidelines and ensure that they are fit for purposes.”

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jess Wilson said clear guidelines and a decision making framework was needed to ensure money is being fairly spent.

“What we’ve seen in Victoria is the mismanagement of taxpayer’s money consistently over the last eight years,” she said.