Finding the right words to express what a new $2.2 million pavilion means to the Anakie Football Netball Club is difficult for President, Heath Menhennet.
Located at the foothills of the Brisbane Ranges, the Anakie Recreation Reserve has been home to local football since 1925, and netball since 2002.
Throughout that time, the club has played an important role in bringing together the community living in and around Anakie.
Game day is typically busy in most football and netball clubs, but Heath says the impact is even more noticeable in Anakie.
While the first half of a major redevelopment of the club headquarters, affectionately known as the ‘Roo Den’, was completed in 2018, the club was thrilled when Council also committed to funding the second and final stage of the project as part of the 2022–23 budget.
Heath Menhennet (President, Anakie Football Netball Club):
We have a population of roughly 200 people, so when we have a game here we double the population in the town, which makes us quite a focal point in the community.
It is really hard to quantify what this funding will mean, but we are a sustainable club and provide a really safe environment for everyone to participate in and I think it is wonderful that the Council has recognised this.
The new facility will include a large club and social room, a kitchen, gym, bar, cool room, unisex accessible amenities, a timekeepers’ space and administration office. The single storey pavilion is set to replace the existing social rooms, and will be built next to the stand-alone change rooms that were built in stage one. Heath said he hoped the funding would not only keep the club sustainable for the next 100 years, but also benefit the broader community.
