By Aaron Cordy
WHEN the October 2022 Floods wreaked havoc through Greater Shepparton, it left a trail of devastation that some are still counting the costs of The Shepparton Italian Social Club (SISC) was one of many affected by the floods, with its building submerged in water for weeks.
Nestled behind the council building on Marungi Street within the Princess Park precinct next to the Goulburn River, the SISC building was built in the 1950s by the Italian community under the guidance of the council of the day. SISC funded and carried out the work, in an agreement with council that they would maintain the grounds, the building, and pay all the outgoings, including insurance.
In 2021, Council approached SISC to take over the building’s insurance, as it was part of the Princess Park precinct and situated on Crown land. An offer that appeared reasonable to the club, which had always been self-sufficient from its inception. That is when the trouble began for SISC.
“We’re fully insured right up till January 2022, when Council came to us late 2021 and said, ‘Hey, because it’s on the Princess Park complex, it’s Crown land, it’s our responsibility to insure the building on the club’s behalf,” said SISC Vice President Vince Tassoni.
“We entrusted that to them, they’ve basically made a claim after the floods and pretty much taken the money and run.”
Cr Sam Spinks tabled an offer to SISC at the April 2026 Council meeting to endorse the reinstatement of the building in principle, subject to the required planning, building and other approvals being obtained.
Under the endorsed recommendation, Council would contribute $500,000 towards the reinstatement of the building. This amount would cover all of Council’s costs to manage the project, including design, construction and administration. SISC is required to fund the remaining cost.
An odd aside in the fight to get the SISC building fixed has been the byplay on social media from Council members, with Cr Fern Summer leading a public charge for the SISC. The motion was agreed upon by Council, six voted for the motion, Cr Summer and Cr Wickham did not vote. Cr Eddy was absent from the meeting.
“What the general public doesn’t understand, they’ve put the offer on the table two weeks ago at the Council meeting, but up until that point, we’ve been fighting because there’s been nothing from them. They’ve been pretty much pushing the demolition since day one. We’ve been fighting to stop that,” said Vince.
“This is not the first time the club has flooded in its history. When it was built, it was built to withstand floods. If they had let us get back in here, we could have probably been up and running within a month.
“The builders and the Council at the time [in 2022] gutted the place. Our toilets, for example, were fully tiled to the ceiling. The walls in between the dividers were all terrazzo panels. A pressure wash and a mould treatment would have been fine. Same with the kitchen, tiled to the ceiling, all stainless steel. There was no need to demolish all that stuff. They’ve just obliterated everything.”
The money is a good start, but it is the devil in the detail of how much say Council has over the building that has SISC worried.
“We’ve been a strong independent club with a 70-year history, and they’ve pretty much destroyed us,” said Vince.
