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He added that working with local government had accelerated the process and kept the benefits in Ballarat.<\/p>\n
“In my view, how good is it when business can work with local government to get connected and use the resources that local government has to fast-track trials,” Thurlbeck said.<\/p>\n
“The ability for Bartlett to do that locally and keep it in Ballarat was awesome. It’s helped take this product to one that is about to be exported. It’s exciting.”<\/p>\n
The trial has provided a valuable hands-on learning opportunity for the city’s sports grounds team, including sports turf management apprentice Bailey Carroll.<\/p>\n
“Bailey has a genuine interest in turf and a bright future in the industry,” his supervisor Jeremy Collier said.<\/p>\n
“My intention is to run more trial work with Bartletts and incorporate this with Bailey. We’ll be looking at differences in ground temperature, growth and recovery, and germination potential.”<\/p>\n
The sports ground team maintains around 65 fields across the municipality.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, work is progressing on a major upgrade to the stadium. The project, which includes a new 5000-seat grandstand, increasing seating capacity to 10,000, a new southern viewing embankment and extra change rooms, is expected to be finished late this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A HIVE of development activity over the past 12 months, Mars Stadium has also become home to a groundbreaking trial aimed at keeping the city’s sports fields greener, stronger and game-ready all year round. The City of Ballarat has teamed up with Bartlett Manufacturing to trial locally designed and developed TurfRise growth covers at Mars […]<\/p>\n