ALMOST $240,000 has been committed to complete much-needed improvements at scout facilities in Tamworth, Moonbi and Gunnedah, with some old buildings even containing asbestos building materials.
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The buildings, some of which are more than half a century old, were in great need of a touch up according to both Tamworth Oxley group leader Sarah Heinz and local MP Kevin Anderson.
Ms Heinz said it's extremely pleasing to see changes being made, and the scouting community will benefit greatly from the upgrades.
"It's going to be awesome to be able to have the hall upgraded, it'll just be so much nicer to walk into a hall that has modern facilities," she said.
"The building was built back in the 1960s so it's become of age and things like the bathrooms don't quite come up to standard anymore, so it's just a nice big refurbishment to let the children have somewhere that's nice and pleasant to go to."
As part of the bathroom upgrades, disability facilities will also be installed, which Ms Heinz said would help promote the fact scouts are an organisation for everyone.
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Other changes being made include refurbishing the kitchen, replacing old barge boards and gutters on the roof, converting an area into a meeting room and safely removing the old asbestos building materials. All up the works will cost $86,000.
Mr Anderson was full of praise for those who run the local groups, and was happy to be able to announce the money for them, which has come out of a $7.75 funding scheme which falls under the NSW government's COVID-19 stimulus program.
"Scouts NSW is one of our state's largest and most popular youth organisations that helps communities build leadership skills, resilience and friendship through healthy activities for young people, so it's great to support them," he said.
"Scouts do a great job and they've been trying for a while out at Lynchwood to try and upgrade their facility.
"[Region commissioner] Brett Grimmond and Sarah Heinz do a fantastic job... it needed some work done so there's money there for that."
The Gunnedah hall will receive evaporative air conditioners, while the timber floor will be sanded, levelled and covered with commercial grade vinyl, with the work set to cost $66,000.
Lynchwood Scout Camp had the most funds allocated to it, with $87,000 committed to install new timber on the veranda, repair the leaking roof, replace a retaining wall, replace termite-damaged timber, install a mobile reception booster and remove old asbestos cladding on a treehouse.
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