for almost 15 years from 1999; the current new manager Brytt Moore; and the centre’s
last manager, Narelle Kriz, who ran the Youthie from 2014 until it’s COVID-enforced
closure in April 2020, at Tuesday’s grand re-opening.
The Cobar Youth and Community Centre
was officially opened on Tuesday and it’s
quickly looking like the refurbished
‘Youthie’ will be a popular place to hang
out.
The centre has been refurbished thanks to
$2.1 million in joint funding from the NSW
and Australian Governments.
NSW Member of the Legislative Council
Sam Farraway and Federal Member for Barwon
Mark Coulton were in Cobar on Tuesday
for the official opening.
After previously seeing what the centre
looked like before its renovations, Mr Farraway
praised Cobar Shire Council’s general
manager Peter Vlatko and his entire team on
delivering “something pretty special”.
Mr Farraway said total funding of $1.79 million
through Rounds Two and Three of the
NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities
Fund and Round Eight of the Resources
for Regions program had allowed
Council to make significant upgrades to the
facility.
He said the Resources for Regions program
is one that works.
“That’s all about the royalties State Government
collects from the mining operations here
and making sure that Cobar people get some of
that money back and, it is invested back into
the community of where that commodity/
resource is extracted from.
“The mines here are supporting this community
and the government are turning around
and re-investing in it and that’s really important.”
“This is a great win for the Cobar community
as the upgraded centre features a new gym, two
squash courts, and mixed-use community
rooms,” Mr Farraway said.
“The upgraded centre will offer something
for everyone, expanding on the service offerings
of the former facility, and providing a safe
place for children to play and be supervised
while adults partake in sport and meet new
people,” he said.
Mr Coulton said an extra $304,371 in funding
through the Australian Government’s Local
Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI)
program was used to install a lift to enable the
upstairs area to be used.
“Without a lift, the upstairs section of the
building was not going to be available to the
public, so this funding has enabled the gym to
be re-located to the second floor,” Mr Coulton
said.
“It has also provided access to the multipurpose
community room upstairs, as well as
the scoring and viewing area above the squash
courts.
“It’s so important that the entire community
can access these facilities, and I’m pleased the
former Coalition Government was able to
contribute to this fantastic project,” he said.
It seems the big crowd on hand for Tuesday’s
opening were all impressed with the
renovations with residents of all ages keen to
take advantage of the new facilities.
Former Youthie centre manger for 16 years,
Debbie Parisi attended the official opening.
She was among those who highly praised the
upgrades.
“It’s all of my dreams come true,” Debbie
commented.
