Football Federation Victoria rules Harvest Home Recreation Reserve grounds ‘unplayable’
Soccer pitches used by hundreds of juniors at an Epping club are so rife with holes and weeds they’ve been ruled “unplayable” three rounds into the season. It follows a raft of complaints about the state of Whittlesea’s parks and gardens.
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Grass pitches plagued with clumps of weeds and holes “the size of a 600ml water bottle” are forcing players at an Epping soccer club onto artificial turf.
It comes after a rampant stream of complaints from ratepayers about Whittlesea Council’s poor maintenance of its parks and gardens.
In November, Cr Norm Kelly told Leader the council’s new contractor GreenLife Group (GLG) did not have enough mowers for the job.
Now, three rounds into the soccer season and Whittlesea Ranges Football Club secretary Sergio Costanzo said pitches at Harvest Home Recreation Reserve were “unplayable”.
“The grounds are so poor we’ve had to have Football Federation Victoria out here and even they ruled the grounds unplayable,” he said.
“Our biggest problem is we’re competing in the national premier league and this is the facility we’ve got to show for ourselves.”
Mr Costanzo told Leader holes in the grass pitches were so big players could fit their fists and 600ml water bottles inside them.
Large clumps of weeds were also causing havoc, he said.
“When a round ball hits a clump of weeds or a hole it diverts into a completely different direction — we can’t play like this,” Mr Costanzo said.
“And we’ve got kids pulling up with sore legs because they’re training and competing on a more solid surface.
“For council to pay money to a contractor to do works on behalf of the community and then have this situation — I wouldn’t be paying at all.”
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Mr Costanzo said the club of 500 members outgrew its Lalor base and moved to the Epping Rd site last year — where its main sports pavilion remains under construction.
“On top of our pitch problems and in the haste of moving to this facility we’ve been handed a run-down pavilion and the new one isn’t finished yet — it’s not acceptable,” he said.
But Whittlesea Council director of city transport and presentation Helen Sui said the grounds were in good nick.
“The City of Whittlesea met with Football Victoria three times over the summer period to monitor the condition of the ground with the final meeting in late January,” she said.
“Football Victoria agreed the ground was at competition standard and ready to be played on for round one of the competition.
“Council will continue to work in partnership with the Whittlesea Ranges Football Club throughout the soccer season.”