Tender stalemate

Alex de Vos
“Frustrated” residents have demanded council fast-track redevelopment of Torquay’s Senior Citizens Centre and Spring Creek Community House after failing to secure an affordable tender for the projects.
Seniors secretary Beryl Scott said the failure had left members in the cold forced to move heavy equipment and reshuffle meeting rooms as they waited for their building upgrade.
“It’s very frustrating for the older people,” Ms Scott said.
“At the moment the air-conditioning and heating is non-existent, so it’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
“Absolutely nothing is being done and I haven’t heard anything.”
Centre member Elizabeth Wapshott urged council to get moving.
“We accepted a plan last year, about 12 months ago, and they said work was going to start in November but nothing is happening,” she said.
“We’ve had no communication – it’s very frustrating.”
However, centre treasurer Aileen Bruce was unconcerned about the delay.
“We would love the upgrade and we’re hoping it’s done as quickly as possible but we’re just plodding along,” Ms Bruce said.
“We’re still running all our activities, so it’s not a concern.”
But Spring Creek Community House’s Janice Salvador said the delay in upgrading both public facilities was “ridiculous”.
She feared the community house would lose money if council postponed the refurbishment any longer.
“It’s really holding things up and could affect our income,” Ms Salvador said.
“We can’t plan ahead and book courses because we don’t know when we’ll have to leave so work can start.”
In 2008 Member for Corangamite Darren Cheeseman announced Federal Government would provide $450,000 over two years for extensions to the community house and $400,000 to refurbish the seniors centre.
Surf Coast Shire planned to link the two facilities but later dumped its proposal after residents gathered more than 200 signatures against the merger.
The shire did not respond to the Independent’s call for comment on Tuesday before the paper went to press on Wednesday afternoon.