by Bonnie Collings
Construction is set to begin on the Garfield North Community Centre.

Cardinia Shire mayor Jack Kowarzik and deputy mayor Alanna Pomeroy were joined by Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts Harriet Shing and representatives from the Cannibal Creek Reserve Committee of Management to officially turn the first sod at the Cannibal Creek Recreational Reserve site.
The long awaited project was born out of community conversations following the Bunyip Complex Fires in March 2019. Together with Cardinia council, various user groups and the Cannibal Creek Reserve Committee advocated for the funding to help build the centre in Garfield North.
Cr Kowarzik said the sod turning event signified the beginning a vital community infrastructure project for Garfield North.
"The scope of this project has been co-designed by several community members impacted by the Bunyip Complex Fires," he said.
"Our community advocated strongly for a multipurpose space to support recovery and help regain connectedness in the town and create a community gathering space for meetings, events and activities."
The Garfield North Community Centre project is supported by a $1.3 million Growing Suburbs Fund grant from the State Government, and a $1 million investment from Cardinia Shire Council.
"We wouldn't be standing here without that funding, and I want to highlight that to show firstly the importance of different levels of government coming together and collaborating, and secondly how vital the growing suburbs fund is to all councils, but particularly for Cardinia Shire," Cr Kowarzik said.
"Together with the investment from council, we will see this project come to life to better support the needs of the various user groups here in Garfield North."
The new community centre will be a modular build with capacity to accommodate around 100 people. The centre will include a social room, a meeting room, a storage area, a kitchen, an accessible toilet and unisex toilets.
Cr Pomeroy was pleased to see works start on the project.
"We're breaking ground on this exciting new facility for our community, I look forward to seeing this project come to life," she said.
Minister Shing said the project had been "a long time coming" and thanked the Garfield North community for their advocacy.
"This is work that can only take place when we collaborate," she said.
"Because we've had community advocacy we're in a position to be able to put forward that ask for $1.3 million and $1 million to deliver a facility that will help people, as we see greater and more frequent issues of emergency and natural disaster management come to these outlying areas of the suburban-urban regional interface," she said.