A BRAND-NEW basketball ring has been installed at the Dunkeld tennis courts after young residents campaigned for it.

The structure was installed on November 5, 2023 and has already seen lots of use.

In September last year Darcy Potter who was then in Grade 6 at Dunkeld Consolidated School and was a Student Voice Representative, wrote to the Dunkeld Progress Association asking for help with funding for the ring.

Dunkeld Public Lands Committee (DPLC) secretary and treasurer, Wendy Trotter-Prust, said the Dunkeld Progress Association then approached the DPLC, who then jointly applied for the Southern Grampians Shire Community Grants program for funding.

“This application was successful with an amount of $2727 received – the DPLC funded the rest of the project with the members of the committee installing it,” she said.

“It has only been installed for a few weeks and already is being well used.

“It is important for our community to support youth in the district, it is so good to see them outside enjoying something we have helped them achieve.

“The DPLC would like to thank the Southern Grampians Shire for supporting the local youth with this grant.”

Ms Trotter-Prust said the main reason for installing the ring was because the youth actually asked for it.

“I am not totally sure how much use it has had but I don’t live far away and can often hear the balls bouncing down there – I also know that some of the youth had actually made use of the lights on the tennis courts to use it at night,” she said.