West Adelaide Hellas Soccer Club banned from using main pitch at Kilburn due to safety issues

West Adelaide Hellas Soccer Club’s Kilburn stadium is riddled with safety issues, an audit has found, and must be fixed before they are allowed to use the main pitch.

The West Adelaide Hellas Soccer Club has been banned from using the main pitch at its yet-to-be-completed home stadium after an audit uncovered a litany of safety issues at the construction site.

The safety audit of the $4.8m Kilburn SportsPlex on Churchill Road found a series of safety risks, including a lack of fencing, exposed nails and harmful dust left out.

The stalwarts of South Australian football are unable to use the main pitch at the stadium until the issues are fixed, placing further financial strain on the club. Teams can still use a secondary pitch at the rear of the complex.

Details of the audit, conducted by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, can now be revealed for the first time.

It found the grandstand, still under construction, was not adequately fenced off, posing a “high risk” to people entering the site.

There were also several cases of tripping hazards and a dangerous lack of railing or fall protection throughout the site.

Images in the audit show a lack of railings in the grandstand. Picture: Supplied

Another example of a falling risk. Picture: Supplied

Among other dangers detected during the audit were nails left exposed in a piece of timber, loose handrails and silica dust left lying out, breaching SafeWork SA’s Respiratory Disease mitigation measures.

Public areas around the ground posed a risk of people falling and that the “owner/operator may be at risk of litigation”, according to the report.

Concerns were also raised about the roof of the grandstand, with the report recommending an independent engineer reviews the structure.

“Only one structural bolt seems to be carrying all the shear forces of the roof’s angled cantilevered tie beams,” the report stated.

The West Adelaide Hellas Soccer Club was able to fix some of the most dangerous issues within 48 hours of the audit. Picture: Supplied

When the audit was complete, West Adelaide was given 48 hours to fix the most serious and immediate problems by installing safety barriers, fencing and removing trip hazards.

After successfully fixing the problems, the club now has until August 18 to provide a more detailed defect management plan and prove it has enough money to implement it.

West Adelaide chairman Alexandros Alexandrou said the club had contributed more than $1m to the project.

“To date the club has delivered, albeit an incomplete facility valued in excess of $12 million,” he said.

“All elements of the Sportsplex have been constructed in accordance with the approved documentation and all relevant structural inspections of the works have taken place, and approved by all relevant government instrumentalities, including the Port Adelaide Enfield Council and the Development Assessment Commission.”

The audit raised concerns about the structural integrity of the grandstand’s roof. Picture: Supplied

Silica dust left lying out on the site. Picture: Supplied

West Adelaide has received more than $4.8m of funding for the project, which remains unfinished, from the previous Labor government.

It drew the ire of current Infrastructure and Transport Minister Corey Wingard, who teed off on the “sorry state” of the facility in parliament on Tuesday.

“It’s extremely disappointing that after seven years and millions of dollars later, the facility is still in this state,” Mr Wingard said.

“I can’t fathom how this project has become such a farce and that seven years later it’s still incomplete and full of compliance and dangerous safety issues.”

Former Treasurer, now Opposition spokesman for government accountability, Tom Koutsantonis slammed Mr Wingard for “politicising” the club’s issues.

“I am stunned at the audacity of this man to attack a volunteer club for not finishing the project, on the same day he announces he can’t tell us when the Gawler electrification project is going to be finished,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

An external financial analysis of the club’s use of the funds found no evidence of misappropriation.

The review did find, however, that the estimated cost of the first stage of the project is $3.6m, with another $2.5m required to complete the stadium.

“In general terms, club grant agreements usually state that should further funding be required that’s a burden for the club to bear not the government,” Mr Wingard said.

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