Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, left, outside the Garah Community Hall with locals Bev Verney, Preschool committee member Jess Verney and her son Duke and daughter Stella.
Thursday, 21 February 2019
THE well-used and much-loved Garah Community Hall will son get something it’s never had before, with Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall announcing a $63,000 funding package to provide the hall with air conditioning for the first time.
Additionally, a group of little preschoolers will also share in the project plan with upgrades planned for the play space they use at the hall.
Mr Marshall says besides the air-con boost, there will also be some works to make playtime more comfortable for them, including a new protective fence, new shade sails and a revamp of the grounds they use.
The preschool room is attached to the Garah community hall in Bingerang Street and will benefit significantly with the grant through the NSW Stronger Country Communities Fund.
“The preschool operates on Tuesdays by the Gwydir Mobile Children’s Service which provides quality early childhood education to little kids who are isolated by distance, small numbers and long stretches of country roads,” Mr Marshall said.
“The service goes to about seven different small places and at Garah there’s about 23 kids from other centres like Ashley and Boomi that also attend in Garah, so it really is a valued and great place to have that interaction for children aged from two to five.”
Preschool committee member Jess Verning says the funding announcement is exciting news for the locals.
Mrs Verning said the hall was a central community space, used by local groups for a variety of functions and activities ranging from Anzac Day observances and CWA Christmas tree celebrations to quilting bees and ladies’ day social events.
“The town has been waiting a long time for this. It will be so nice to see a revamp for the hall and the preschool,” she said.
“We are going to get split system air conditioning in the hall and some much needed upgrades out the back of the hall for the preschool.
“The school stopped using the hall because it didn’t have air conditioning and it’s just so hot in summer.”
Mr Marshall said the Garah Community Improvement Project would benefit many across the area, with the new climate-control system making the hall more attractive and more comfortable for more people to use.