Page 2669 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
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Members would recall the Kanga Cup played recently in Canberra. Some 5,000 visitors came to our city. Capital Football have expressed their thanks to the ACT government for the support they received from Active Canberra to assist in the delivery of this event in trying circumstances this year.
As members know, ACT government sportsgrounds, with the exception of synthetic facilities, are closed twice yearly for necessary remediation works. The renovation involves removal and installation of goalposts by cranes, aerating, dethatching, fertilising, top dressing, seeding and, in some cases, turfing. The restoration shutdown is now well established with fixed periods in March and September. A rolling shutdown has been previously explored by Active Canberra. However, this model is not practical for a number of reasons. The intensiveness of the program and the resources involved, including the need for flexibility to move quickly and progressively from one ground to the other, does not lend itself to some grounds being left on-line for use.
From a budget perspective, there are efficiencies in undertaking the necessary bulk maintenance requirements during short, intense periods and the need to rest the grounds briefly from any use is essential. Expenditure associated with maintaining the ACT government’s sportsgrounds in 2015-16 was $15.7 million. This funding primarily supported the maintenance of irrigated and synthetic fields. Importantly, it should be recognised that all revenue received from the hire of ACT government sportsgrounds offsets the costs associated with ongoing maintenance of these valuable community assets.
Annual increases to sportsground fees and charges each year go only a small way towards better cost recovery for delivery of this key service to the community. Revenue collected from sportsground hire in 2015-16 was $2.5 million. This represents a cost recovery ratio of just 16 per cent. In other words, a government subsidy of 84 per cent is currently being provided to sport and recreation user groups for their sportsground usage.
The increases which have occurred are bringing the government subsidy gradually back to 80 per cent, where it typically sits in other jurisdictions. Further, I would point to the additional investment in the 2016-17 budget of $1.8 million for a sportsground irrigation and maintenance funding boost, as well as $1.1 million for community sporting infrastructure and asset maintenance.
The government seeks to work actively with local sports to support affordability and participation. It is important to point out that the ACT government’s sportsground fees and charges make up only a small proportion of the cost for participants, especially at the junior level. A junior football club is currently charged $6 per hour to hire one football field for training. Some football clubs share this space across numerous teams, accommodating the needs of up to 50 participants per field. So there can be no question that the ACT government has an ongoing record of providing quality and subsidised sport and recreation facilities for use by the local sports industry and the broader ACT community.
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