Plastic’s fantastic says council

– Callan Date
CASEY councillor Michael Farley believes the grass is greener on the other side of town.
While several local ovals have withered during the drought, Cr Farley has investigated the option of Casey establishing three synthetic ovals throughout the city.
Cr Farley recently toured Woodlands Primary School in Langwarrin and discovered students enjoying a lush green artificially grassed oval in the middle of stage 3a water restrictions.
The $300,000 surface is primarily used for school lunch break purposes and other leisure activities.
Cr Farley moved a motion at last week’s council meeting requesting an on-site visit to the Langwarrin school be organised for interested councillors.
Narre Warren South P-12 College has been talked about as one of the possible sites that could benefit from a synthetic playing surface.
The school recently received a $15,000 Department of Education grant to temporarily make the surface safe.
Council officers have been asked to conduct a feasibility study on the various synthetic surfaces available and report their findings back to councillors as part of Casey’s Leisure Facilities and Development Plan.
Officers will also investigate the possibility of establishing a synthetic surface that is capable of having a full scale Australian Rules Football match played on it.
Councillor Farley said the surface at Langwarrin required no water and only needed major maintenance twice a year. “It is a fantastic oval out at the school. It would make some ovals in our city drought proof,” Cr Farley said.
“It costs about $20,000 to $30,000 to maintain a grass oval every year. A synthetic oval only costs about $4000 to maintain,” he said.
Councillors Steve Beardon and Rob Wilson both backed the report.
“I’m very keen to see the report. Having these synthetic ovals may save us some dollars in the long term,” Cr Beardon said.
“This is a huge opportunity to bypass the issues of drought,” Cr Wilson said.