Work begins on first synthetic field in the city
Explore Councils by state
Anne-Marie Balliana and Eddy De Gabriele from Football South Coast, join with Gareth Ward, Member for Kiama, and Wollongong City Lord Mayor Cr Gordon Bradbery AM as works begin on Ian McLennan Park, the first synthetic pitch in the Wollongong LGA.
Wollongong City Council will begin work on the first synthetic turf field for football at the Ian McLennan Park Sports Field, Kembla Grange.
Council will construct a new synthetic sports field, lighting and associated works at Ian McLennan Park. The project is expected to cost $2.753 million and includes financial contribution from Football South Coast.
Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said: “This is the first synthetic field to be constructed in the city for football. It will be constructed to Fédération Internationale de Football Association [FIFA] standards and will provide long term benefits to sports people of all ages in the city.
“Ian McLennan Park was identified as the best site which will see great opportunities for the development of local junior players as well as providing a potential training and competition base for current and future national teams.
“Football is Australia’s biggest participation sport with more than 1.5 million participants – including 402,000 female participants – at all junior and senior levels. And there may well be more football players following the World Cup.
“Council is committed to providing sports venues which encourage sports participation to help create a healthier and liveable city.”
Football South Coast Chairman Eddy De Gabriele said: “Synthetic fields are becoming increasingly popular to cater for high use and periods of wet weather and Football South Coast is extremely proud to be part of this project which will result in the first ever football synthetic pitch in the region.
“The new pitch will also enhance the quality and frequency of games played at the venue and will be used for various programs and competition games for football, schools and the wider community. We would also like to thank Wollongong City Council and the NSW Government via Clubgrants Category 3 Funding who have assisted with funding for this milestone project. We would also like to acknowledge South Coast United FC for working with Football South Coast in ensuring the facility will be used by the wider community, while the club will remain a key user of the facility.”
The project on the first all-weather football field began in June 2018 and is expected to be complete by January 2019, weather permitting.
The project will include:
Synthetic turf field to main field to comply with all FIFA and Football NSW requirements LED lighting to synthetic turf field, the natural turf field, and the junior natural turf field Sportsfield fencing around the synthetic field Installation of player dugouts for the synthetic turf field Installation of fencing around Ian McLennan Park.If you’d like to know more about the project, you can contact Council’s Customer Service Team on (02) 4227 7111.
Like this:Like Loading...