Reserve – not what it’s cracked up to be

By Helen Tatchell

Cracks are appearing at the Ballan Recreation Reserve sporting facility, literally.

The multi-use netball court was nearly deemed unusable after large long and thick cracks appeared.

The home game for the club against Beaufort was nearly a forfeit.

Recreation Reserve Chairperson Bill Smith said they had to make some very urgent repairs.

“Five-years ago, due to new netball regulations, the tennis courts were extended to accommodate a netball court. Our old netball court did not have the room to extend so we went on to the tennis courts. Council extended it for us but it was only a band-aid repair, and now we have a major repair,” he said.

“We were lucky that Peter Hughes from Professional Sport Services came up at a moments notice, cleaned and repaired the court so our game could go ahead.”

But this is only a temporary fix.

“We are the second largest town in this shire and our recreation reserve has third world facilities,” Mr Smith said.

And the netball come tennis courts are not the only asset that is falling down around them. The children’s playground looks like a crime scene with cordoned off red and white tape around it. Bolts are sticking up, seats are broken and the equipment in a state of total disrepair. Boundary boards are falling over and the chip bark is long gone.

Mr Smith said Member for Buninyong Geoff Howard has been stealthily silent.

“He came here close on two years ago and we showed him that cracks were starting to appear. Now they are beyond repair, the whole area needs a facelift.”

The reserve also has light towers from a by-gone era.

“The netball area received the football night light towers when the football towers were replaced. These light towers for the football came from Pentridge Prison. I think a good torch would be better than what we have now,” Mr Smith concluded