THE Frankston Coast Guard will not complete their long-expected move into the Frankston Yacht Club building.
The Coast Guard’s move into the Yacht Club building was approved by Frankston Council in 2019. The Coast Guard were going to occupy the first floor of the space.
At their most recent meeting, councillors voted to instead provide permanent accommodation for the Coast Guard in the Frankston Mechanics Institute.
When making the decision to move the Coast Guard unto the Yacht Club building in October 2019, councillors also voted to “commit $400,000 to the 2020/21 budget from the strategic reserve to undertake fit out and associated building works to the first floor of the Frankston Yacht Club facility to provide permanent accommodation for [the Coast Guard] at the Frankston Yacht Club facility subject to an appropriate occupancy agreement and approvals. (“Coast Guard move to Yacht Club ticked off” The Times 21/1019)”.
In its 2020/2021 budget, council agreed to pour more money into the refit. During its mid-year budget review it deferred $1 million in funding towards the works into the next budget (“Delays for council project funding” The Times 25/1/21). As part of the decision to abandon the Yacht Club move, council will return a $400,000 budget allocation from its strategic reserve.
Council will allocate $210,000 in its 2021/22 Capital Works Budget from the strategic reserve to to refit Frankston Mechanics Institute, subject to an occupancy arrangement.
The motion councillors voted on read that council officers had worked in collaboration with the Coast Guard and DELWP to find an appropriate site for rescue vehicle storage. Councillors agreed that “the most appropriate solution involving an integrated facility with an upgraded public toilet at the base of Olivers Hill at a total estimated cost of $1,225,000”, but further investigations are expected to take place.
The report prepared by council officers read that “following ongoing investigations about the viability of the proposed first floor restaurant at Frankston Yacht Club facility, councillors have subsequently received advice that the entire first floor space should be reserved for in order to satisfy the requirements of a fine dining restaurant.”
“Discussions have been ongoing with the FCG about their long term accommodation and FCG have agreed that the Mechanics Institute could be used as a long term accommodation solution,” the report read. “FCG have been temporarily occupying the front two meeting rooms at the Frankston Mechanics Institute on a council approved occupancy agreement (peppercorn rental) since the demolition of the FCG facility.”
The Yacht Club building had become a problem project for council since its construction, costing ratepayers millions in the last five years while sitting mostly vacant.
At the start of the year, council announced that it had come to a lease agreement with a cafe to move into the building.
Negotiations with a potential tenant fell through in 2019 after potentially dangerous cladding was found inside the building (“More trouble for Yacht Club building” The Times 2/9/19).
