Porepunkah Panthers Baseball Club is looking forward to progressing a $1 million redevelopment of its sports and recreation facility at the Porepunkah Recreation Reserve after Alpine Shire councillors unanimously supported planning permit approval at their council meeting last week.

In what has been a long and drawn out affair over almost four years, planning approval was celebrated by the more than 40 club members, ranging from 80 years to just three months old, who had packed the council gallery.

"Councillors said they've never seen their gallery so full: that's how much it means to everyone there," Porepunkah Panthers president Paul Meddings said.

The proposed $1 million redevelopment of the Martley and Nicholson streets site involves the construction of a two-storey building; incorporating a canteen, scorers' room, covered viewing area, storage area, clubroom/multi-use space and amenities in the lower level; a scorer's room and viewing deck in the upper level; and a business identification sign, detailing the Porepunkah Panthers logo and name once the clubrooms are completed.

The new facility will be physically integrated with the existing 'home' and 'visitor' team seating areas, i.e. 'dugouts' and include demolishing the existing 'store', extending the 90 centimeter-high chainmesh ball stop fence for 10 metres each side of the existing dugouts and widening the southern end of the existing batting cage to provide for both left and right hand batters.

Funding for the new clubhouse, totaling $502,000, was raised by the Porepunkah community and matched dollar-for-dollar by the federal government's Growing Regions Fund, bring the total project up to just over $1 million.

Mr Meddings said the confirmation of the planning permit is a big milestone in the project.

"We're now only awaiting a building permit for our lights," he said.

"Once that's done, they can go up within 10 days.

"We play during the winter and at 4:30pm it's very dark, so it's hard to train to baseball standards.

"I believe it's 300 lumens for training, as a minimum requirement and we have 16 lumens.

"Once we get these lights up, the school can have twilight sports there, we can hold night markets and so on, which will be really beneficial for Porepunkah."

Mr Meddings said the best thing to come out of the finished project will be proper infrastructure for the baseball club.

"We originally just wanted some change rooms and it's obviously evolved into something else," he said.

"I want to thank Regional Development Victoria for their guidance so far...they are managing the project and making sure the Growing Regions' funds are used correctly.

"I want to give a big thanks to Alpine Shire Council's director of assets, Sarah Buckley: she's been helping us along the way to try and navigate everything.

"We'd also like to thank the Porepunkah Hall committee, all the club members who've helped fundraise and the greater Porepunkah and Alpine community for getting behind this project and making some noise around it."

During the meeting, Cr John Andersen said the Panthers have already built something very special.

"In an area with so many sporting options... [the Panthers have] shown they're a strong, sustainable club with members and supporters from right across the Alpine Shire," he said.

"Their success speaks for itself, not just in the way they've achieved what they've achieved on the field, but in seeing local athletes go on to compete at state, national and international levels.

"It doesn't take much to see the difference sporting clubs make in our small communities.

"Getting to this point hasn't happened overnight: it's taken years of hard work, dedication and effort by volunteers, coaches, players and families who have put so much in the club."

A construction timeline for the clubhouse project is yet to be announced.