It comes after user groups tirelessly pleaded with council to reconsider applying for a $1 million guaranteed state government grant for new female friendly changerooms, with the deadline approaching on July 11. Sport and Recreation Victoria made contact with council to help push the case along.
User groups determined that with the recent surge in female football numbers, combined with the 60 plus netballers, it was important for Barkly Park to meet modern playing standards.
Currently, the facilities are considered “primitive” with girls required to shower fully clothed, because there are no doors or privacy. There is also a lack of privacy in the training room, and the building itself, which is almost 70 years old, is outdated.
A new netball court and resurfacing of the existing netball court at Barkly Park is also deemed as urgent by the user groups.
As previously reported by the Free Press, the Rutherglen Cats Football Netball Club and the Murray Felines Female Football Club initially rejected a nominal $300,000 grant from Indigo Shire Council to renovate the existing changerooms last year, with the plans being “significantly flawed” and “non-compliant with the AFL Guidelines and the Building Code of Australia”.
A release of a preliminary master plan, designed by Regional Design Service, was released early June following extensive community consultation which recognised the dire need to improve the outdated facilities and create an inclusive and accessible space for all user groups.
User groups of Barkly Park are now busily working in the background drafting plans with the required information and costings to help council submit the application for the grants.
“We are putting together the costings for the netball courts and the changerooms which are a very much needed infrastructure upgrade, and we look forward to Indigo Shire’s cooperation with this process,” Rutherglen Football Netball Club president Pat Beattie said.
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