Winter sports waiting for more rain

Posted 29 April 2008

The winter sports season is underway, and all grounds are in use despite a desperate lack of rain.

Local sports all survived the summer without the need for Council to close any grounds as first feared. AlburyCity congratulates the local sporting associations and clubs for working with us to manage the grounds.

The move from stage 4 restrictions to stage 3A (November 1 2007) then to Stage 3 (January 15) all helped, as did some good rains in November and February.

Chairman of Sports Albury Cr Henk van de Ven said AlburyCity’s “tinge of green” watering regime for many parks and sporting fields had worked well. He said judicious reduction or shutting down of irrigated areas at sporting fields and other open space areas had saved a good deal of water.

“For example, the playing surfaces of many sportsfields are now only irrigated, while the surrounds are shut down. Cricket Albury-Wodonga installed water tanks at some grounds which enabled clubs to water their turf wickets. Albury Sports Club purchased bore water to enable the Albury Sports Ground to be irrigated.

AlburyCity’s couch grass program has been a huge success - 18 hectares of traditional turf has been replaced with couch grass. This started with a review of water use initiated after the drought of 2002 with the aim to minimise water consumption while still providing high quality facilities.

The new grasses are at Sarvaas Park, Alexandra Park, Jelbart Park (Northern Fields), Waites Park, Aloysius Park, Greenfield Park, and Haydon Park, Lambert Park, Albury Croquet Green, Jelbart Park (Eastern fields), and the Springdale Heights Baseball Diamond.