LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
AS a resident of the area now for some 29 years, I find it exciting and satisfying to see the current obvious economic and population growth that the greater Sale area is currently experiencing.
It has been stagnant for a number of years, particularly during the 1990s in the wake of the Esso head office departure.
While this has been a positive and Wellington Shire Council has done a lot of good work to upgrade our infrastructure, I firmly believe that an integral part of any large country town, its sporting infrastructure, has been either completely ignored or, if an upgrade has been attempted, the end result has been poorly designed and inadequate.
The Gippsland Regional Sports Complex, for example, looks a million dollars externally, but it has been acknowledged that the floor surface is unacceptable.
To its credit the council is replacing this with properly sprung wooden floors.
Another major flaw in the design has not been acknowledged, however, and that is that the facility is just too small.
You can’t expect an area with a population that we have to cater for all indoor sports crammed into just four courts — if for any other reason that it is unsafe.
I have been watching juniors trying to play netball and basketball (in finals too), only to have to dodge indoor soccer balls from adjacent courts while running at full pelt.
I happened to be there recently when the local men’s basketball team was trying to train, having to do the same.
It’s a serious injury waiting to happen — a broken leg, knee ligaments — and then you have the legal implications of that.
Netball and basketball have huge memberships and deserve their own dedicated facilities, as exists in other towns the size of Sale.
They are mainstream sports.
The main GRSC stadium, particularly with the upgraded flooring, does suffice — but not when you throw in the extra activities like indoor soccer and hockey that the shire tries to run there as well.
The facility then becomes a health and safety risk, and is inadequate.
At least another two courts need to be built at the GRSC, on the ample spread of land they have there, to cater for those activities.
Then, and only then, can it be classified as a truly multi-purpose complex.
Until then it is an accident waiting to happen. It’s not just the GRSC either; there are a few other main deficiencies I would like to touch on.
Aqua Energy is another complex that needs to be expanded.
On any given day there might only be one lane available in the indoor pool for the public to swim in.
The remainder are taken up by swimming club and lessons.
Even the change rooms are now closed to the public at certain times during the day.
This can easily be fixed by a proper heating and filtration system in the outdoor 50 metre pool so it can be utilised year-round.
If this was done already, there would also not have been a reason to build the proposed mega Traralgon aquatic complex, and Sale still would’ve been hosting country championship swimming for many years to come, with the huge economic benefits it brings.
As it stands, once the Traralgon complex is finished, we may never see those here again — missed the boat on this one.
Finally, the Sale main oval is a social hub during winter with the major football league fixtures.
When I arrived here in the late 1980s from Albury, it was regarded as one of the top few country football venues in the state.
It is now neglected by the council and is third world compared to the Latrobe Valley venues.
The only hospital that will expand in Gippsland is Latrobe Regional Hospital, not Sale, so there’s really no excuse not to spend the money to bring it up to scratch.
Imagine the economic benefits, given the historic popularity of cricket in the Sale-Maffra region if we could host a T20 Big Bash game here like Traralgon just had.
Apart from that though, the Sale Football Club (like Sale City Football Club) brings a steady stream of revenue to the town during winter, and should not be ignored.
It’s all good and well experiencing this growth as we are at the moment, but please Wellington Shire Council, I implore you — don’t ignore our inadequate sporting facilities any longer.
