Hopes for sporting chance

By DION TEASDALE
PLANS to create a community sports hub at Healesville High School could be off the drawing board within six weeks if the school can’t convince the Shire of Yarra Ranges to support the project.
The project could involve the construction of a new playing field adjacent to the school’s indoor pool and gymnasium, and the three facilities could operate as an amalgamated community sports complex and become a permanent home for the Healesville Soccer Club.
Healesville High School assistant principal Alan Rennick said the Department of Education had allocated $200,000 towards the creation of the new playing field, but more funding was needed from the State Government and the shire.
“The money we have from the department is not sufficient to get the right drainage and irrigation on the oval. The school needs $400,000 to do it properly,” Mr Rennick said.
He said the school had applied for $100,000 in funding through the State Government’s Community Facility Fund, a program that matches dollar for dollar any investment from councils as a way of finding the extra $200,000.
“We gave the application to the shire in March but we haven’t heard anything and we need to make a decision in the next four to six weeks if we are to have a playing field by this time next year,” Mr Rennick said.
The shire’s executive officer of recreational services, Gerran Wright, said the shire understood the school’s time line and would meet with the school in the next six weeks to discuss the funding further.
He said no decision had been made, and that the shire had not set aside any money for the project.
“At the moment the school would need to demonstrate that there is advantage to shifting money we have from other sports projects to this one,” he said.
Mr Wright said it was unlikely that the $250,000 funding set aside for the upgrade of the second oval at Don Road in this year’s budget could be used for the sports hub project.
He also said he had identified a number of problems with plans for the project.
“The $400,000 the school hopes to raise is simply to pay for the oval,” Mr Wright said.
“It will only provide the surface. There are other facilities that haven’t been costed into the equation.
“The sports hub idea would mean additional car parking, lighting, toilets, fencing and change rooms.
“The school needs to look at the big picture, at the infrastructure required for community use.”
Mr Wright said the council would sit down with the school and other stakeholders in an effort to come up with the best option for the community.
Mr Rennick said he was confident the sports hub project would bring benefits to the wider community.
“We think this is a terrific opportunity for the shire to be part of creating a sporting facility for the entire Healesville community,” he said.