29 Feb 2024
The council have informed the committee that the new completion date for our new fences is March 18th. We apologise for this further delay but unfortunately it is out of our hands. Please be patient as we work through court allocations for these final weeks . Your club competiton coordinator will be communicating with team managers if your team is scheduled to play at home. On the good news front, we will be having a celebration event after Easter to mark the fence project's completion. We will communicate further details about that as soon as we have them.
Dec 19 2023
The committee is very pleased to announce that we have raised over $146,200 to replace the fences and retaining walls on Courts 1-6. Works on the fence replacement project is scheduled to begin on Jan 2, 2024 and run throughout January. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates!
After a successful submission to council by the committee, the Macedon Ranges Shire Council has contributed the lions share so they are overseeing and running the project including appointing and managing the fence contractor Ultracourts.
A breakdown of the funds raised to date totalling $146,200 in order of receiving them:
$20,000 from Bendigo Bank (Community Bank Gisborne & District )
$80,000 from Macedon Ranges Shire Council
$15,000 from the National Court Rebate scheme (Tennis Australia)
$7,500 from GREAT (GREAT produces the Gisborne Gazette and runs the monthly market in Gisborne)
$23,700 that the club has in savings to contribute.
The work will commence on or around Jan 2nd, 2024 with our goal for it to be complete before school and competitions start up again in February but this will be dependent on the contractor and the council. So there will be some interruptions to court access over the holiday break so please keep your eye on our Facebook page for updates. Please be patient with your club while we manage the various stakeholders to get this done. There is no perfect time to do it but when there are no competitions or regular trainings on is the best time.
I'd like all members to join me in saying a big thank you to our fundraising committee members Angela Dridan and Jodee Hurley who have worked tirelessly to raise these funds for more than a year. Without their incredible effort and dedication, this fence project would not be where it is today. And to all the dedicated committee members and volunteers of the Macedon Tennis Club, all of your contributions large and small are greatly appreciated.
Merry Christmas to all our members. We look forward to our brand new fences and lots of great tennis in 2024!
Liz O'Connell - President- Macedon Tennis Club
Nov 15 2023
We are excited to announce that fundraising is now complete! The Club Committee would like to thank the Macedon Ranges Shire Council for their contribution of $80,000 and Bendigo Bank for their contribution of $20,000. The club has $20,000 in a savings account also ready to contribute to the project.
As the largest financial contributor, the Macedon Ranges Shire Council will be overseeing the project. They have appointed a fencing contractor and demoltion and contruction of new fences for courts 1-6 will happen over the Christmas holidays. More information on exact dates and court usage interruptions to follow.
June 7 2023 update
The Macedon Tennis Club committee has been working for the last 9 months on ways to raise money to fix the old, damaged and in some places, dangerous fences. The fences are particulary bad on Courts 1234 but the hard courts 5 and 6 also need replacing.
We have applied for grants and the Gisborne Branch of Bendigo Bank generously awarded us $20,000 last year on the proviso that we raise more money from other sources. We have $20,000 in the club bank account put aside but to replace all the fences and build new retaining walls to support them, the club needs $150,000.
We have put in a submission to the Macedon Ranges Shire Council for $110,000 in the 2023/24 budget. The results will be announced at the end of June 2023.
You can also listen to MTC President do a 3 minute pitch here via Zoom to councillors after they had all received the written submission.
In addition, an article ran inthe Midland Express June 6th on the issue (below).
The committee will keep members updated on the results of the council submission.
Liz O'Connell, Angela Dridan and Jodee Hurley - Macedon Tennis Club Fence Project Committee Members
