Bellarine Times
Tuesday 6 April 2010
VOL 3. No 14
www.bellarinetimes.com.au
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INSIDE TODAY 56-PAGE COASTAL PROPERTIES & SURROUNDS GUIDE
OP SHOP OUT? Future site of Portarlington op shop remains up in the air as it awaits a council decision on the extension of its rotunda lease
BY ALISON MARTIN PORTARLINGTON and District Hospital Auxiliary’s op shop is awaiting a City of Greater Geelong decision on whether its home will remain at the historic rotunda. The shop, which raises $30,000 a year, has been located under the Portarlington icon for more than three decades. Renovations have forced the shop to relocate, with no word being given by CoGG on whether the current lease will be extended. Bellarine Community Health chief executive, John Fendyk, said the op shop had been operating from its prime position at the Portarlington rotunda for more than 35 years. He said the current BCH lease on the rotunda ended on August 30 next year but the health service’s Portarlington auxiliary had not been notified when the op shop could reopen in the rotunda. “We have applied to City of Greater Geelong for a five-year extension on the lease, but we have not heard if it will be approved,” Fendyk said. He said the op shop had relocated to a garage on the Bellarine Community Health site, between Newcombe and Fenwick streets, while the rotunda was being restored, but it was important the op shop returned to the prominent location. “It raises a lot of funds for the community and all the money stays in Portarlington,” Fendyk said.
Op shop co-ordinator, Fran Connors, said the shop was staffed by about 20 volunteers and opened on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year, providing pre-loved clothing and goods for the community. However, she said during school holidays, when the town’s population expanded dramatically and visitors had time to wander the small retail centre, the op shop opened five days a week. Connors said money raised through the op shop had funded many community items over the years, with some of the recent purchases including a podiatrist’s chair for BCH and a Wii game and television for the men’s group at the centre. “The money goes to a lot of important things and the rotunda is a focal point in Portarlington, so we always had people coming in,” Connors said. “It’s much quieter since we moved but we expected that because people aren’t going past all the time and they don’t know where we’ve gone since we left the rotunda.” Portarlington’s rotunda restoration will be funded by City of Greater Geelong and Regional Development Victoria as part of a $550,000 project to create a new town square and complete major streetscape works. Rotunda works will correct a number of structural problems with the Portarlington icon and include the replacement of flooring materials, underpinnings and other supports.
Su rf Forecast
Local girls, Molly Barsby and Charlotte Middleton, were hopping around the annual Barwon Heads Primary School fundraising fair on Easter Saturday. The girls were part of a large crowd that enjoyed the fun of the fair. For more pictures from a big weekend on the Bellarine, see Pages 8 and 9. Photo: ALISON MARTIN
WED 2ft+ quality, NE 24° THU 2ft easing, NW 23° FRI 2-3ft small W/NW 22° SAT 2ft average SW 21°
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