By XAVIER SMERDON
TWO of Wyndham’s most popular events that have brought in thousands of tourism dollars could be lost to the municipality forever.
Organiser of Fashion Awards Australia and the Victorian Open DanceSport Australia Championships, Heather Marcus, told Star last week that the redevelopment of the Wyndham Leisure and Events Centre meant the events could no longer be held in Wyndham.
Both events had previously been held at the Leisure and Events Centre, with the Fashion Awards being a mainstay in Wyndham for 15 years, but the centre’s redevelopment means it will not be available for at least two years.
“It’s very sad to see Fashion Awards Australia leave Wyndham because this is where it started and it has always been held here,” Ms Marcus said.
“Wyndham was such a good location for the event because it is central to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.”
Ms Marcus, who is also the Mayor of Wyndham, said she was worried that the municipality would lose many of its large events without somewhere for them to be held.
“It disappoints me that we don’t have a venue available for large events and the big fear is once they move out these big events might not return to the City,” she said.
“There is a definite need to redevelop the Leisure and Events Centre but there will a lot of pain to event organisers and hopefully they return.”
Ms Marcus said DanceSport Australia had brought people from all over the world to Wyndham and residents would be sad to see it go.
The Fashion Awards will be held in Taylors Lakes at the Lakeside Banquet and Convention Centre on Friday 13 September while a venue for DanceSport Australia had still not been found.
