The "unprecedented" deluge of wet weather in recent months has exposed a "huge weakness" in Shellharbour City's sporting fields.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So says Shellharbour Mayor Chris Homer, who knows something must be done to rectify the issue, especially considering it is highly likely even more community sport will be washed out this weekend.
This "frustrates" Homer, who has already seen "too many" kids and adults alike suffer mentally from missing so much sport in the last few years due to COVID-19 and wet weather.
The mayor though is adamant the council has a big role to play in coming up with a coordinated plan to develop the city's sporting facilities.
"I think moving forward we really need to look at an area and a field that is for all weather and those discussions are taking place right now within the organisation," Homer said.
"We've had this outlier of wet weather over summer and even now more recently in winter. I've been in Shellharbour the whole of my 54 years and I've never seen rain hit that hard for that long and the grounds to be, what they call charged with water.
"It has exposed a weakness, particularly in Shellharbour City, because largely a lot of our sporting fields are in classified flood zones.
"As a sporting person myself I'm really keen to move forward with facilities that aren't exposed to these extreme weather events moving forward because I do think these extreme weather events are probably going to get more extreme, instead of less extreme as we deal with climate change.
As a sporting person myself I'm really keen to move forward with facilities that aren't exposed to these extreme weather events moving forward because I do think these extreme weather events are probably going to get more extreme, instead of less extreme as we deal with climate change.
- Shellharbour mayor Chris Homer
"I think that will be built into our resilience policies moving forward. The conversation is there and we are starting it. It is a big one because it is a really big piece of infrastructure.
"We need to do it right and advocate for grants and what not needed to get the ball rolling. The conversation has started and we want to really look at putting in place sporting facilities that can cope with these outlier weather conditions that we've been experiencing."
Wollongong Mayor Gordon Bradbery wasn't as optimistic as his Shellharbour counterpart that anything could be done to improve sporting facilities moving forward.
"No matter what we did to those facilities, even with the best of drainage, we'd still have problems. You are confronting a climate situation that even with the best of drainage systems in place we'd still have problems," he said.
"We are between a rock and a hard place with this one in as much as we've got extremely sodden and saturated ovals, we are in the middle of winter and no matter what we do.....I think throwing a lot of money, even if we had the money, we couldn't reconstruct and set those playing fields up for another 12 or 18 months or so. Even so those fields are in locations that are very vulnerable to flooding and inundation."
I think throwing a lot of money, even if we had the money, we couldn't reconstruct and set those playing fields up for another 12 or 18 months or so. Even so those fields are in locations that are very vulnerable to flooding and inundation.
- Wollongong mayor Gordon Bradbery
A number of sporting administrators have told the Mercury years of planning was needed to address the sporting facilities issue in the Wollongong area.
Bradbery agreed, adding there was no easy solution.
"I realise that people want to play sport and want to get out and about but the challenge for us is [sporting fields] were never built to cope with these sorts of rain events, and that is the challenge we confront," he said.
"Even synthetic pitches are problematic. They still have to be properly constructed and also need drainage.
"We are also under a moratorium in relation to synthetic pitches and have to wait for a report to be handed down by the NSW's chief scientist."
A spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Environment said the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer was expected to complete its final report later this year, following its independent review into the use of synthetic surfaces.
"I think all the [Wollongong] councillors sympathise with the problem but the challenge, even if we had all the money in the world, we still couldn't do anything about it for at least one-to-two years.
"Even if we did have all those resources it is an extremely challenging situation.
''The council is under the pump at the moment with a lack of staff because of COVID and other illnesses.
''My concern is that kids have missed out on a season of winter sport but there is not much we can do about it."
Homer said Shellharbour Council would be doing all it could to improve sporting facilities to reduce the amount of community sport being called off due to bad weather.
"I'll be fostering ways in which we can put in resilient facilities and make sure that these outdoor facilities move forward, because it will help look after our residents' health, wellbeing and mental health."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
