THE Wodonga Netball Association is demanding the city’s council fix its courts which an auditor found were “full of structural flaws”.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 12-court Kelly Park centre is earmarked for replacement with a new complex at Birallee Park, but association representatives say that could be a decade away and action was needed now.
President Holly McFarlane and resurfacing delegate Katrina Donelan said grazes and ankle and knee injuries to players and spectators were not unusual.
They are caused by problems with court surfaces such as cracking and pooling of water.
Netball Victoria auditor Mick Hassett found the courts were near unplayable because of the faults.
“These courts appear to be quite aged, and they are full of structural flaws, considerable cracking and overall pavement failures,” Mr Hassett wrote in his audit report.
As a result zone and championship events are no longer held at Kelly Park.
“Netball Victoria have told us they can shut us down at any time,” Mrs Donelan said.
“We’ve chosen not to introduce two to five year-old netball and we put off an all-abilities tournament because of safety.”
Mrs Donelan said the council had indicated in recent meetings it would back a nine-court upgrade rather than a 12-court fix, but a budget has not been set.
“We’ve offered to put in $120,000 to support it, that money was to support the relocation to Birallee, however if it’s another 10 years it’s better off using that money now,” she said.
“That’s how serious we are and we’ve applied for a $100,000 Holden grant and we’re waiting to hear back on that in April.”
Mr Hassett quoted $590,000 for new surfaces and lighting for nine courts.
The association is highlighting the issue as part of the council election campaign with an aim to have candidates commit to an upgrade which would be completed for winter in 2018.
The Alliance for Change group is supportive.
“What we want to do as Alliance for Change is raise the awareness of the issue and get a resolution as quickly as possible, whether it’s short or long term,” candidate Chris Rogers said.
“If anyone of us is elected to council that will be one of our main priorities.”
Mr Rogers’ views were echoed by colleagues Trevor White and Ron Mildren.
“Across Wodonga we’ve got a situation where sporting and other groups don’t have adequate security of tenure and as a consequence it’s difficult to commit to long-term developments for the organisations using facilities,” Mr Mildren said.
“We need to change the policy and adopt a different model.”
