No fun in playground, oval off limits

By MELISSA MEEHAN
IT’S a muddy mess.
Hillsmeade Primary School has been left with what can only be described as a swampland where their oval once was leaving their 850 children to play in three smaller sections of the school grounds.
The water has even seeped into classrooms on really wet days.
Even with a week of dry weather, walking on the outskirts of the oval it’s very wet underfoot.
“We haven’t really had an oval for the past four years,” Principal Brian Mills said.
“Four years ago Alkira set up portables on the oval and used it while their school was being built.
“They were there for a year and ever since we have been left with a muddy mess.”
He said when Alkira College was based at the school an entry road was built for access to the classrooms. He said the road was built 30 centimetres higher than the oval, leaving nowhere for the water to drain.
“So we basically can’t do anything with it,” he said. “It’s a swamp land when its wet and even in hot weather its wet with dry patches that are like concrete, not to mention the dangerous pot holes.
“We just can’t use it.”
Mr Mills said before Alkira used the site the drainage on the oval worked perfectly.
“Now, after two dry days you still need gum boots to walk across the oval,” he said.
“We’ve done everything we can within our own resources; even getting a dad in with a bob cat to drain it, we’ve even got another dad to put extra soil on the oval, and put in a retaining wall – but nothing seems to work.
“It really needs new drainage works – but that’s something we can’t afford.”
A spokesperson for the Victorian Education Department said they had worked closely with Hillsmeade Primary School to repair the school’s oval when Alkira College moved to its current site.
“The Department funded the school $7000 to undertake repair work on the oval,” the spokesperson said.
“Funding for maintenance works is distributed directly to schools via the Student Resource Package.”
He said the Victorian Government has increased funding for school maintenance by $100 million over four years.
“All schools have already started to receive this additional funding,” he said.
“This new funding will go towards issues identified in the maintenance audit such as repairing floors, roofs, grounds and painting.”