Page 3229 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 September 1994
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MR LAMONT: I thank the member for her question. It is timely to respond to this general inquiry, as most residents of Tuggeranong will have seen, as I am sure some of the members of this Assembly who live in Tuggeranong will have seen, extensive works being undertaken in the area known as the Conder district playing fields. Those fields, Madam Speaker, are currently under construction and are due for completion in November this year. Following the establishment of the grass, they are expected to be ready for use by April 1995. As you would appreciate, there is a need to ensure that the grass takes and that it is robust enough to allow for fairly wide sporting use of that facility.
These fields, consisting of about eight hectares of irrigated grass, will provide a valuable addition to the sporting facilities in the Tuggeranong area. Following extensive consultation with sporting groups, these fields will serve as the training headquarters for the Tuggeranong Australian Rules Football Club. They will incorporate two senior Australian rules fields, one of which will be equipped with quality training lights. Also included in the complex will be a pavilion providing change rooms, public toilets and a kiosk. This building will also house a mini depot to serve as a base for the City Parks field staff maintaining the southern Tuggeranong suburbs.
Madam Speaker, in summer the complex will accommodate a little athletics centre and junior cricket. Plans are being prepared to construct a turf wicket on the Conder section of the complex next spring, to enable the Tuggeranong Valley Cricket Club to program all senior grades within the Tuggeranong area. An important innovation in the operation of this complex will be the fact that it will be irrigated using second-class water from the nearby Point Hut pond, assisting in water conservation and reducing long-term maintenance costs.
Madam Speaker, a licensed club site has been identified alongside the Conder section and plans are under way for the development of this club in the near future, providing an opportunity for close links to be established between the local community and the sporting groups using the fields. The essential issue associated with the establishment of the club facilities on that site, Madam Speaker, I understand, is that the Australian rules senior team within Tuggeranong is attempting to establish a club facility within the region and obviously it would be appropriate if it were able to establish it at this location. I also understand that discussions are under way between the Tuggeranong Valley Rugby Union Club and other sporting bodies, including Australian rules, to see whether or not co-location of facilities would be undertaken.
In relation to the cricket pitch, Madam Speaker, I am informed by my officers that it would delay use of the Conder playing fields were we to introduce the turf cricket pitch this year. So, it is proposed that the irrigation system be put in now as part of this part of the process; but the actual development of the turf, which will take some time, would not be implemented until the end of this summer playing season. Madam Speaker, I think that demonstrates the high priority that this Government places on the provision of such facilities, and I am extremely pleased to be able to make this report to the Assembly.
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