Twin Towns club members have overwhelmingly supported a resolution to change part of Club Banora to non-core property which will allow the vacant upstairs portion of the club to be developed into a $3m childcare facility.
Set to accommodate about 95 children with 16 full-time staff in the booming Tweed region on the NSW/Queensland border, the childcare facility is part of a wider Banora central village masterplan.
Subject to DA approval by Tweed Heads Council, the club will now be able enter into a long-term lease with an approved childcare provider and further diversify its income stream from its traditional revenue base.
The childcare centre will occupy about 1506sqm of floor space, with a floor area of 801.16sqm, covered play area of 682sqm and an outdoor store of 28sqm.
The change adds another dimension to a grander masterplan for the precinct to create a new central village by making Club Banora ‘The Centre of Life’ for local residents.
In addition to revitalised club facilities, the masterplan will offer a new supermarket and medical services, and a new lakeside dining area and outdoor LED screen at Club Banora. Set among green lawns and gardens the club hopes the area will become a meeting place for local residents and families.
Apart from the new 94-place childcare facility, there is potential in the masterplan to add over-50s living as well as the shopping centre. The plan had the council and club at loggerheads over plans to split the site in two. Oasis Pools at Club Banora was also demolished recently in preparation for the new plans.
“This has been a long journey over more than 10 years after the initial plan was presented,” club chairman Brian Brown told members. “I still remember the many meetings we attended in attempting to have the concept design agreed to by Council. We are not there yet but at least the parties are consulting with each other to achieve a solution that both groups can agree to.
“The time is right to have the plans approved and the development move forward to the benefit of the community of Banora Point and surrounding shires.”
In the meantime, the club is pressing on with other renovations, including in Tweed Heads South with the demolition of Twin Towns Juniors to be replaced by a purpose-built $12 million clubhouse that will open in early November.
Along with contemporary interior design and lighting, natural light-filled spaces, a stylish bar and an outdoor verandah, Juniors will open a new restaurant, JR’s Kitchen. There will be dining indoors or outdoors on an elevated balcony overlooking the playing fields and outdoor pavilions will be refreshed, AV upgraded and outdoor TAB will continue to operate.
The new building has been raised around a metre and a half off the ground to ensure flooding issues which have plagued the club for decades remain a thing of the past.
