City Services is stretching its annual winter sports fields maintenance program this year in a trial to give Canberrans a chance to train before the winter season.
Welcoming the announcement, the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Yvette Berry said the trial would see 20 of the Territory’s irrigated sports fields kept open during the two-week maintenance period which will run until 31 March.
“We’ve been working with peak sporting bodies and will allow some fields to stay open during this time as a trial,” Ms Berry said.
“We hope this new approach will allow more time for training,” she said.
“Our relationship with sport peak bodies is important, and if this trial works well we may make it part of the normal maintenance period at the end of the winter and summer seasons.”
Ms Berry said maintenance work had already started at some sports fields, while other sports fields would close for maintenance at a later date that suited the various sporting groups.
She said the maintenance work would involve top dressing (spreading a new layer of sand/soil) and upgrades to turf; installing goal posts and line marking.
“Some grounds have already received some maintenance with crews recently inspecting and repairing lighting towers and repairing wiring from bird damage,” the Minister said.
Ms Berry said the 20 sports fields remaining open were Campbell, Conder (two fields), Curtin (two fields), Duffy, Griffith (two fields), Hall, Holt (two fields), Kaleen (three fields), Page (two fields), Pearce (two fields) and Watson (two fields).
