Recreation Strategy 2015-2020

Loddon Shire recognises the critical importance of sport and recreation to the Loddon community. It understands that sport is the social glue that can bind communities together and create strong connections between residents, which in turn helps people to create new friendships and networks and reduces social isolation. It understands that participation in physical activity is important for people’s physical and mental health and can reduce the burden of disease and its associated costs. It also understands without strong clubs and organisations and strategic partnerships with other organisations, that it would not be possible to deliver the breadth, diversity and quality of sport and recreation opportunities currently available within the Shire. Loddon Shire also recognises that the sport and recreation landscape is constantly changing and that in order to be successful and sustainable, Council, its partners, clubs and organisations need to be informed, skilled, proactive and innovative. Amalgamations of various sporting clubs also brings with it opportunities and challenges. It is likely, that as the population grows older and the number of people available to make up teams diminishes, that there will be more amalgamations, or alternatively, the introduction of new modified activities to adapt to the changing demographics. In recent years, Loddon Shire has focussed its efforts and funding on upgrading and developing new sport and recreation facilities. Loddon Shire residents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the majority of sport and recreation facilities available in the municipality through the community survey. It will be important, however, to ensure that these facilities are well maintained so that they reach their potential in terms of lifespan and continue to be well utilised by the community. While the development and ongoing upkeep of facilities should still remain a priority, Council should also recognise and adopt as a priority, activities and programs for local residents. It should also focus on club development as another priority, to ensure that local clubs and organisations are strong, skilled, resilient, viable and adaptive to change. Club development is therefore a major priority of this Recreation Strategy. Rather than facilitating generic training for sport and recreation clubs and organisations, Loddon Shire wants to assist clubs and organisations to develop individual solutions to the challenges that they are facing, in areas such as governance; attracting and retaining new volunteers; fundraising; compliance; attracting and retaining players; improving accessibility; and policy development.