Page 992 - Week 03 - Thursday, 23 March 2017
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Sport—Melrose football precinct
MR STEEL: My question is to the Minister for Sport and Recreation. Could you update the Assembly on the recently completed Melrose football precinct and how it will support grassroots football in Woden and the surrounding region?
MS BERRY: Thank you very much for the question. It was great to join with Mr Steel and Ms Cody and a bunch of young footballers on 9 March to open the new Melrose football precinct at Melrose high. It is a fantastic new facility, as I think everyone will agree as they drive past it or if they have visited it.
Completion of this project delivered on a major commitment the government made to the Woden community, and it brings some fantastic facilities for both Melrose high and footballers around the Woden area. It includes a state-of-the-art synthetic football field, a natural grass irrigated school oval, sportsground lighting which meets Australian standards for both training and match play competition, a sports pavilion, change rooms, a first-aid room, a canteen, public toilets, and storage spaces as well as upgrades of the existing outdoor hard courts and a new car park.
The facility will be used by Melrose high during school hours and also support significant community use by Capital Football and its affiliated clubs outside of school hours. It will also support other schools in working out ways to put football programs together for schools for girls and boys.
There is no doubt that this facility will get plenty of use by school students during the day, club training in the evenings and matches on the weekend. It will give us the advantages of a synthetic pitch and we will be able to identify the advantages of having a synthetic pitch as we move forward in providing great sporting facilities for the ACT community.
The construction funding was $6.653 million and was provided through the 2015 budget. I want to thank everybody who contributed to the project, particularly staff in the Education Directorate and Active Canberra.
MR STEEL: Minister, how will access to the facility be managed to ensure both the school and local clubs benefit?
MS BERRY: I thank Mr Steel for the supplementary. There are heaps of people who cannot wait to have a game in this new precinct. To manage its use, an agreement is being developed between the Education Directorate and Active Canberra to balance the requirements of Melrose high and the broader community around access and use.
As I have said, the synthetic facility will be available for use by Melrose High School during the day from Monday to Friday, with the exception of some programmed maintenance activities. Outside school hours, maintenance and bookings will be managed by Active Canberra and it will be primarily used by Capital Football and its affiliated clubs.
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