The Ulladulla Milton Lions Club Inc is racing the clock to find a site and begin construction on a new storage shed, which they have been given a $30,000 grant for.
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The state government grant expires soon, meaning they have to start work on the shed in the near future.
The club was moved from their previous location in Burrill Lake, on the eastern side of the Princes Highway, to make way for the new bridge.
A proposed new site in Burrill Lake next to the Community Hall has received strong opposition from the community.
However, South Coast MP Shelley Hancock said she would speak to the Premier about the possibility of extending the grant’s expiry date.
“It [the grant] will disappear if we don’t find a site pretty soon,” she said on radio 2ST on April 17.
“I think I can plead with the Premier to leave that money there because we just need to find a site.”
At a community meeting, attended by more than 70 people, on Friday, April 13, residents voiced their objection to plans for a 29-metre by 10-metre shed to be built next to the community hall.
A development application lodged with council shows plans for the shed to have cream Colourbond walls and a red roof, with a unisex toilet and double sink for the “cleaning of utensils”.
The Lions Club would use the shed to store equipment, including their vans and vehicles, Christmas decorations and catering equipment.
Mrs Hancock said the community had to work together to find a suitable site for all.
“We need to try and find somewhere that is appropriate,” she said.
“We don’t want to see our hard working Lions club not be able to find a new site. They need a new home.”
The community was divided on the proposal to build a new shed on Princess Avenue, next to the Burrill Lake Community Hall, Mrs Hancock said.
“I am seeing a lot of support for the plan, but there is also a lot of concern,” she said.
“It is a really divided community and we don’t want to see that.
“When I first heard about that location, I thought it would be appropriate, I really did. However, if the community thinks it is going to be too much of a eyesore, we need to find another location pretty quick smart.
“If the community can accept and understand that this has been a very, very long road, with site after site disbanded because of various issues. It is not simple, it has been like pulling teeth for a long time.”
Mrs Hancock said the Burrill Lake Lions Park was “not suitable”. The location was knocked back by Crown Lands.
“That is a recreational park and we really don’t want a shed in a middle of a park,” she said.
“I am sympathetic to the fact that the Lions lost their home. I am on their side, I have secured funds for them.”