City of Rockingham councillors support back first stage of million-dollar hobby hub

A multi-million dollar new venue just for hobby groups could be the answer to Rockingham Men’s Shed and Rockingham Districts Rock Gem and Hunting Club’s search for new homes. The City of Rockingham is looking into building a hub at Bungaree Reserve that could house various local hobby groups. Last month the council committed to an approach that would accommodate the men’s shed and gem club first. Both groups are operating in less than satisfactory conditions. The men’s shed has outgrown its premises in Anniversary Park and the gem club base at Bungaree Reserve has reached the end of its life span and needs either urgent repairs or demolition. The gem club is one of just three lapidary clubs in WA that train members to work with rocks and gems in a wide range of activities, including carving or cutting gems to make jewellery. The city estimates it would cost $7.6 million to deliver the entire hobby hub project in three stages, with latter works to create space for the Dog and Pigeon Club, a storage room for the Safety Bay Athletics Club and other spaces for community groups to hire. It’s still very early stages for the proposal, with a feasibility study suggesting the council should chase 70 per cent of the costs from State or Federal Government grants before committing to the build. Rockingham Men’s Shed president Rob Spratt said their members were in desperate need of a new meeting and working space. “We’ve been asking for a new shed for years; it’s becoming dangerous with the amount of equipment we’ve got and lack of storage space we’ve got,” Mr Spratt said. “We’ve got about 65 members, but if we have 12 to 15 people turn up then we’re battling for space and we’re falling over each other.” Mr Spratt supports the council’s co-location plan, provided the group could continue to operate independently and maintain its own storage space away from other groups. “We’ve been told that our shed will be about twice the size than what we’ve got and we’re more than happy to move across, as long as we are autonomous and don’t share the building with anyone,” he said. Mr Spratt said the group had previously declined a suggestion to move to the Rockingham Autumn Centre as it was the same size as their current shed. Gem club president Jim Hogan said although it was early stages, they were hoping the new building went ahead as planned. “We were told that our building was going to be knocked down,” he said. “The council approached us with the idea for a hobby hub and we said yes because we have no option, they’re going to shut our building down anyways. “We’re keen to be involved in the early stages to ensure we get what we want and have enough space to house all of our equipment.”