Council ready to kick off football season
With only weeks before the start of the local football season, Council’s Sports and Recreation Working Group has more reason than normal to look forward to the first whistle.
Chairman of the Sports and Recreation Working Group, Councillor David Stranger said the working group had used the off-season to improve local amenities and grounds at numerous locations throughout the Shire.
“In conjunction with local sports and recreation groups, the working group has delivered some fantastic projects over the past couple of years.”
“Some of the projects recently completed include the lighting of sports fields in Moss Vale, Bowral and Bundanoon with the Community Oval in Moss Vale and Iron Mines Oval in Mittagong next on the list.”
“In addition, the Church Road, Eridge Park and Ferndale Ovals were also recent recipients of irrigation systems,” Clr Stranger said.
Apart from traditional sports fields, the working group also manages numerous other sporting and recreational projects including the upgrades of tennis and netball courts, re-surfacing of the Eridge Park velodrome surface and installation of playgrounds across the Shire.
The latest being the Hampden Park playground in Robertson. ”Providing playgrounds is perhaps the most rewarding of all the projects and the feedback from the children using the Robertson facility has been nothing short of spectacular,” Clr Stranger said.
In addition to delivering regional infrastructure the Sports and Recreation Working Group were also instrumental in obtaining the services of a Greenkeeper to look after Council’s sports fields.
“The investment in the full-time Greenkeeper has already paid off with many of our grounds looking the best in years. Only last month Hampden Park played host to a number of pre-season Football NSW soccer matches which is a testament to the quality of our playing surfaces,” Clr Stranger said.
“Regardless of your code, we’re quietly confident that 2011 will be the most successful football season in years.”
Wingecarribee Shire Council’s Sports and Recreation Working Group is made up of three councilors and six community representatives.
The working group assesses community proposals based on a five-year priority list. Budgetary funds are subsequently lobbied for with projects being co-managed with local stakeholders.