Pavilion snub

By Melissa Grant
OFFICER’S football and cricket communities are “astonished” that councillors have snubbed them in the council’s 2009/10 budget, with no funds allocated for a “desperately needed” pavilion at the clubs’ new oval.
The second ground at the Officer Recreation Reserve is almost match-ready, but without nearby change and umpire rooms games cannot be played on it.
Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) operations manager Ian Benson this week wrote to the Officer Recreation Reserve Committee stating the ground’s distance to the ground meant that the safety of players, umpires and spectators was a major concern.
Currently, four senior and eight football clubs, plus 100 Auskick kids, are forced to share one oval – a situation which has seen the ground’s surface deteriorate.
Rob Porter, Officer Recreation Reserve committee of management chairman, thought it was a “foregone conclusion” that funds for the new pavilion would be included in the council’s budget, and recently put forward a submission in the hope of getting the budget amended to include the project.
Lights began to be installed at the ground on Monday, but that night any flicker of hope thatthe project would be included in the budget was gone when coun-cillors adopted the 2009/10 budget without amendment – much to the dismay of Mr Porter and other members of the committee.
“To our astonishment there is nothing left in the budget for facilities at Officer,” he said.
“We thought the normal process was to have a ground and let the kids have a game.”
Councillor Brett Owen tried unsuccessfully to amend the budget twice on Monday night to have $112,500 for the design of the pavilion included, but didn’t have the support of his colleagues.
Cr Owen said it was “unacceptable” that the project was on the back-end of the council’s four-year capital works program.
But Cr George Blenkhorn said councillors would have to look “pretty hard” at the project next year in light of the MPNFL’s letter.
He said council had a big problem which inhibited it from including funds in the 2009/10 budget: debt.
“Council has many wishes but council doesn’t have a lot of money… unfortunately its not Christmas,” he said.
It is understood that the council will eventually spend $2 million on the pavilion which will service the existing and new ovals at the Officer Recreation Reserve.
Mr Porter said it was also disappointing that the council would start work on Gum Scrub Creek Oval before completing the half-baked Officer Recreation Reserve project.
The Gum Scrub Creek Oval is included in the council’s Cardinia Road Structure Plan. Developer contributions will help fund the oval.
“Gum Scrub Creek doesn’t even have a club to use it. We desperately need a new oval,” Mr Porter said.
Mr Porter said members of the committee and volunteers had been working overtime so the Officer Cricket Club’s four senior and five junior teams had another ground to play on.
“There’s been a massive amount of voluntary labour – we have always finished our jobs on budget and on time.”