By Jed Lanyon
Seville oval is set to receive a major redevelopment as both Labor and Liberal federal parties pledged $900,000 to upgrade and level the playing surface of the ground known locally as ‘the chip’.
The ground at Seville Recreation Reserve is situated on a large slope, meaning football and cricket players are either running up or downhill when in action.
Labor candidate for Casey Bill Brindle made the announcement on Wednesday 24 April and pledged the funding if the Shorten Labor government is elected in May.
Just hours later, Liberal Member for Casey Tony Smith pledged $900,000 in funding for the oval if the Morrison Liberal government is re-elected, meaning that Seville oval will be redeveloped regardless of either major party winning the election.
On top of that, Mr Smith vowed that Seville would receive further funding of $92,174 for CCTV security cameras in the town.
Seville Cricket Club committee member Russell Braidner is looking forward to seeing his home ground redeveloped.
“It’s the potato chip, if you look at the shape of it; it’s actually shaped like a potato chip.
“The bottom side of the ground is very quick. It’s not much of a shot to get to the boundary,” he said.
“For the top side of the ground, you’ve got to be a very good cricketer to hit boundaries to the top.
“There’s five metres difference I think from top to bottom, so that’s a fair hill,” Mr Braidner said.
Seville oval recently had light towers installed, but due to the uneven ground levels, some light towers are five to six metres taller than those on the opposite end of the ground.
Both the football and cricket teams have struggled to convince the league to host finals at the venue.
“The league will choose the best grounds in the district to host finals. There’s not two grounds like this in close proximity anywhere else in the Valley,” Mr Braidner said.
“So if we can get this done, we will be able to host entire finals over different grades.
“I think the football club have much more of a problem attracting players, because that (the chip) is their number one ground.
“And when that’s wet, there’s no sub-surface drainage, there’s no irrigation, so it’s either hard as concrete or it is mud,” Mr Braidner said.
The entire project is estimated to cost $1.8 million.
