A COMMUNITY sporting club fears gymnastics is being frozen out of a planned $14 million tennis centre and sports hub at Centenary Park.
An online petition is calling on Frankston Council to honour a pledge made last year to include a dedicated gymnastics area and programs at a purpose-built complex at McClelland Drive planned to be complete by 2019.
Bayside Gymnastics Club vice-president Mel Newham posted a change.org petition online last week urging council not to exclude gymnastics from the sports centre.
The petition says council representatives attended the club’s annual general meeting last October and “very proudly announced” that Bayside Gymnastics would be moving to Centenary Park in 2019.
“It turns out that after an election, you no longer need to gather votes so you can change your mind and disappoint hundreds of families,” the petition says.
“Recent events indicate that Bayside Gymnastics Club is being excluded from the Centenary Park discussions … where is the transparency? Where is the discussion?”.
It is understood that the gymnastics club is not being kept updated about progress on the project.
Council has been talking to the Frankston Tennis Club about a move to a new sports complex since the club, founded in 1891, will need to relocate when Frankston Hospital expands and adds more buildings.
Council floated the idea of a multi-sports complex at Centenary Park to house tennis courts and a gymnastics area.
A partnership with Centenary Park Golf Club fell through in January after the golf club decided not to be part of the planned sports complex.
Bayside Gymnastics uses a gym at Langwarrin Park Primary School for its programs and equipment has to be reassembled for each gymnastics session.
Club president Joyce Stocker said the gymnastics club had doubled its member numbers from about 200 to more than 400 in the past year and is “bursting at the seams” at times at the school.
“We do have concerns that gymnastics’ participation at Centenary Park is under threat,” Ms Stocker said.
“Centenary Park is still an option but there’s a question mark over how it will proceed. Council’s preference may be to just consider tennis at that location.”
The club president hopes council can “find a place for us in Centenary Park”.
“We are also open to other options if that fails because ultimately our aim is to get our members’ a new venue.”
Ms Stocker said council has not invested “any significant amount” of ratepayers’ money back into gymnastics, especially popular with girls, in the past decade.
Frankston mayor Cr Brian Cunial in January said talks had been “very constructive, with all parties committed to move forward” in a statement.
“It was agreed to continue to pursue the Centenary Park project, recognising that additional work will be needed on the management model and financial arrangements with the clubs and the peak bodies, Tennis Victoria and Gymnastics Victoria.”
The mayor did not respond to questions on Friday asking about the progress of the Centenary Park project and whether councillors have been briefed on the current situation.
