Picture this – living on the Mornington Peninsula while enjoying regular cultural festivals or frequent visits to recreation facilities
Can you imagine living on the Mornington Peninsula while enjoying regular cultural festivals, live music performances and art exhibitions?
Or what it would feel like to have more options when it comes to sports centres and recreation facilities?
If you’ve ever wondered why you don’t have access to a recreation centre, arts studio or community centre near your house on the Mornington Peninsula, it’s largely a question of funding.
The state government has overlooked the Mornington Peninsula in terms of funding over the last decade, and it shows. Similar locations like Geelong have received literally millions more dollars in grants than the /Mornington Peninsula area.
In research commissioned by the Committee for Greater Frankston, it was discovered that -
- Geelong was granted $4.95 billion, while
- Frankston/Mornington Peninsula was granted a comparatively measly $2.04 billion (that’s a difference of $2.94 billion) in the last decade.
- Geelong received 2.4 times more funding than Frankston/Mornington Peninsula combined area, and most of the extra funds went to transport, economic development, and community and justice funding.
While it’s great to see Geelong get plenty of economic help from the government, we know that the Frankston/Mornington Peninsula area is
fairly similar when it comes to our social and economic demographics. So, why can’t we receive the same funding?
We all want to live in a vibrant, colourful, expressive part of the country where there is plenty to see, do and experience.
And yet, this vision is very difficult to achieve if the Mornington Peninsula doesn’t receive adequate funding to bring it to life. While making the trip to Melbourne or further afield to get our cultural fix can be fun, wouldn’t it be incredible if you had some more of Melbourne’s vibrant culture right here on your doorstep?
The Mornington Peninsula’s population is ageing, but it doesn’t have to be. With more funding, we could create more incredible experiences and activities that make young residents want to stay right here and enjoy everything our beautiful peninsula has to offer — including a rich cultural and recreational scene.
More funding would also allow us to channel funds into our transport and infrastructure projects, which would make it even easier to move safely around the peninsula for recreational purposes. It would mean more jobs in the arts, culture and community industries.
The Mornington Peninsula could become a cultural lighthouse and attract more visitors of all ages, which would in turn enhance our economic outlook and put us in a better position to deliver services to our community.
We deserve better from the people elected to represent us.
