ALBURY Council remains committed to the introduction of an upfront charge for junior basketballers and netballers at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.
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The council’s community and cultural committee last night agreed to delay moving from the pay-as-you-go ticket system until January.
It will be replaced with an upfront payment to allow for full-season court hire.
Cr David Thurley said the recent mediation session held with Albury Basketball Association and its clubs had been illuminating in pin-pointing why the council was forced to back down from its decision in April to dump ticketing.
“It’s been a bit of a mess up until recently,” Cr Thurley said.
“Not for any reason caused by council or council staff.
“A lot of information came out which I think showed people had not paid attention to what council was proposing.
“Councillors didn’t participate and the basketball association and clubs had a very open and honest discussion.
“It is probably a sensible outcome given the discussion that night.”
The compromise, which will result in the ticket system remaining in place until December, will be formalised at the next council meeting on Monday.
Once the change is fully implemented, the council is predicting $11,000 in savings at the stadium, but in the meantime it will commit $5500 to paying staff to collect the tickets.
Cr Henk van de Ven said the time extension would enable the junior basketball and netball associations more time to implement the charge.
“We’re aware of the concerns of parents and think that more time will allow each association to develop the implementation plan with players and parents so that they can fully capitalise on the benefits,” he said.
“In the long term, it means parents save money and the sporting associations are more financially secure.”
Junior basketballers will pay $7.50 and junior netballers $6.50 until December.