A loophole that allows sporting clubs to pay to use wet grounds closed by Shellharbour City Council could be about to change.
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At Tuesday night's council meeting, councillors will consider altering the wet weather policy to scrap a bond system that had allowed sports to take place on wet grounds.
The council has three categories of playing fields in terms of wet weather - category one is the most affected while category three fields the least affected.
Under the current policy if a group has a book for a category two or three field that has been closed by the council, they can use it if they pay a bond.
That bond is then used by the council to carry out any necessary repairs afterwards.
"The payment of a bond to use a field when it is otherwise assessed as being unsuitable only considers the immediate needs of the current user," council business papers stated.
"If damaged, the bond contributes to the financial recovery of the playing surface, but the repairs may require an extended closure impacting future use and other users.
"This occurs when different groups use the same grounds and when there is a change of sports seasons."
The proposed change to the policy would remove any possibility to pay to use a field already closed by the council.
"This provides equitable access for all current and future users of council's sporting facilities," the business papers stated.
"The use by one group should not impact subsequent users."
Council staff has also proposed to scrap the category system in favour of a case-by-case approach.
"There is no assessment based on the proposed use of individual fields," the business paper stated.
"The category system does not consider that sports have different impacts on the fields. Low impact sports could proceed when high impact sports are not suitable."
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
