Sporting facilities bouncing back after deluge of rain

The City of Ballarat is moving closer to having its full suite of sporting facilities available for sporting action. 

The wettest October on record in Ballarat presented several challenges for the city’s grounds maintenance team, with unprecedented rainfall resulting in waterlogged grounds and sodden surfaces. 

However, thanks to some welcome dry weather, extremely hard work from staff and millions of dollars prior investment, City of Ballarat facilities are almost back to operating at full capacity. 

Of the 26 ovals maintained by City of Ballarat, it is hoped 21 will be available for play this weekend, weather permitting. 

However, any further heavy rains could affect any planned reopening due to lingering sub-surface moisture. 

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson, said it would be great to once again see the facilities used. 

“Everybody knows how wet it has been, but to recover so quickly is a testament to the hard work of our staff,” Cr Hudson said. 

“We even still managed to hold the WBBL Festival of Cricket at Eastern Oval at the end of October, which is remarkable considering the month we had. 

“Then to still have more ovals available for play last week, shows the money we invested over many years was well and truly worth it.” 

City of Ballarat has invested more than $16 million since 2016 to completely resurface 12 football/cricket grounds and two soccer pitches within the municipality. 

There are two further soccer pitches in Pleasant Street currently being resurfaced. 

This enabled eight ovals to be open for cricket in the first weekend of November, despite 204.8mm of rain falling in October. Some of the grounds that were resurfaced do not include cricket pitches. 

“We know how much Ballarat people love their sport and one of our council goals is to establish a healthy, connected and inclusive community, so we can’t wait until we have all our ovals back,” Cr Hudson said. 

“We are also stepping up to hold the Under 12 School Sports Australia Cricket National Championships throughout November after the event had to be moved due to flooding in Shepparton, which is going to see our facilities at the forefront again.”