A range of City facilities will be able to reopen when the regional Victoria lockdown is lifted on Friday.
Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan welcomed the easing of restrictions, which allows freedom of travel in regional Victoria and for retail, hospitality, entertainment and cultural venues to reopen.
"This will come as a huge relief for our community, especially for local businesses," Deputy Mayor Sullivan said.
"While this is a good first step, we would like to see some clarity on what will allow those patron caps, which are quite tough for indoor venues, to be lifted further."
Deputy Mayor Sullivan also supported the Victorian Government's move to a more targeted approach to outbreaks in regional Victoria.
"The Geelong region's vaccination rate is very strong, so we hope the state can hit the necessary targets soon and we won't need to lock down again."
Under the changes, the City is preparing to open the following venues, subject to visitor caps:
• Kardinia Aquatic Centre;
• Community hubs and halls;
• Customer Service Centres (Corio, Drysdale and Brougham St, Geelong)
• Skate parks, dog parks and outdoor gym equipment;
• City-owned golf courses;
• The fOrT;
• National Wool Museum
• Belmont Market; and
• The Potato Shed
Residents should visit our 'What's Open' page or contact the individual facilities for specific details on their operations.
With Melbourne residents still not allowed to travel into regional Victoria except for essential reasons, Deputy Mayor Sullivan encouraged locals to back Geelong region businesses.
"We look forward to welcoming Melburnians back as soon as we can – that really relies on vaccination now.
"In the meantime, we're encouraging our community to support local whenever possible, and we'd love other regional Victorians to visit us too, now that they can."
Visitors to City facilities are reminded that it is a Government requirement for regional businesses to verify that visitors are not from the Metropolitan Melbourne area.
"We encourage everyone in our community to follow the restrictions that remain in place – including wearing masks indoors and outdoors," Deputy Mayor Sullivan said.
"We also strongly urge everyone in our community to get vaccinated – reaching high vaccination rates in the best chance we have of avoiding future lockdowns."
Bookings for COVID-19 vaccinations at the Norlane community hub can be made here. www.barwonhealth.org.au/coronavirus/booking-a-vaccination
Please monitor the COVID-19 exposure sites and follow directions if you have attended a site in the exposure period. A range of local testing sites are available.
