Richmond Football Club endorses Mildura Future Ready
Published on 12 October 2017
AFL Premiers the Richmond Football Club have thrown their support behind Council’s landmark Mildura Future Ready (MFR) funding and advocacy strategy as the Tigers look to increase their presence in the region.
Richmond General Manager Football Neil Balme met with Councillors and senior Council management today for a briefing on MFR and its push to increase jobs and growth in the region.
Council launched MFR in August, aiming to secure $88 million in funding to make four key projects a reality by 2022:
- Mildura South Regional Sporting Precinct (MSRSP)
- Mildura Motorsport and Community Precinct (Stage 1)
- Stage 2 of the Mildura Riverfront Redevelopment
- Return Mildura’s passenger train service.
Collectively, these projects are expected to generate 1000 jobs and $400 million in economic output for the region.
As part of his visit to Mildura today, Mr Balme stopped at the proposed site of the MSRSP, which would include an AFL-standard football ground, suitable for AFL club training and practice matches.
Councillor for Economic Development and Tourism Mark Eckel, who accompanied Mr Balme during his visit, said building strategic partnerships with high profile organisations as successful as the Richmond Football Club offered a raft of benefits for MFR.
“Mildura Future Ready is about large-scale investment in regional communities, and we need an initial injection of Victorian Government funding to make this strategy a success,” Cr Eckel said.
“Any successful advocacy strategy is about building partnerships and making connections, and we can’t think of a better partnership to start with than the most successful AFL club in the country at the moment – the Richmond Football Club.
“I believe after today’s briefing Neil could see the benefits of this strategy for our region, but also for Richmond.”
Mr Balme said that while football was obviously a key component of the Mildura South Regional Sporting Precinct, it wasn’t just about football.
He said this facility and its ability to house 19 sporting groups would foster growth in a broad range of sports, resulting in social and economic benefits for the Sunraysia region.
“We also know that by bringing elite sport to the area, we can help drive participation and physical activity at the grass roots level, which is of great benefit to the communities that we work within,” Mr Balme said.
Media enquiries
Ben Piscioneri
p) (03) 5018 8689
e) ben.piscioneri@mildura.vic.gov.au