Three sporting clubs based at Kalora Park Reserve in Narre Warren North have called on council to help repair their wellworn facilities. From left: Narre Warren Football Club president Kim McGill, Narre North Foxes Junior Football Club president Sean Delaney, Narre North Foxes Junior Football Club senior vicepresident Brendan Gray and Cr Rob Wilson.By Rebecca Fraser
LESS talk and more action.
That is the view of three sporting clubs and Casey deputy mayor Rob Wilson, who claim the Kalora Park Reserve in Narre Warren North has been forgotten for far too long.
The three clubs and Cr Wilson claim the Fox Road clubrooms require urgent attention to better provide for their growing members and to repair the dilapidated and ageing facility.
Top of the wish list is a need for new toilets, a new canteen and upgrades to the social rooms as well as making room for the women’s netball teams.
The move comes after news surfaced this week that the Narre North Foxes Junior Football Club and the Narre Warren Cricket Club will probably not move to their new ovals until 2008 due to a slowup in the land sale process.
Cr Wilson has even dubbed the Fox Road sporting ground the worst junior football facility in Casey.
At a recent council meeting he moved that an urgent inspection be arranged for ward councillors, the mayor and other interested councillors and relevant council officers of the netball and football player amenities at Kalora Park to determine what improvements were necessary.
“The clubrooms are old and dilapidated and the toilets are for little kids not adults,” Cr Wilson said.
“The best thing would be for the whole building to be bulldozed so that we can start again.
“But I do not think that is going to happen.”
Narre Warren Football Club president Kim McGill said he had been involved in the club since the “day dot” and had not seen any major improvements to the social or clubrooms for the past 20 or 25 years.
“At the moment the clubrooms are really unworkable and the club has obviously outgrown the facilities,” he said.
“There has been that much talk over the last three years but nothing has happened.
“Council said they won’t do anything until the new ovals and pavilions are ready, but this is another three years away.”
Mr McGill labelled the canteen a “health hazard” and said you could not even swing “the old proverbial” cat in there.
Narre North Foxes president Sean Delaney said the council needed to urgently provide the clubs with a construction team to fix up the deteriorating facility.
He also said the clubs were sick of sitting back and watching other clubs get new facilities when they had to wait and wait.
“I am confident that council will make the ovals happen and that more funds will come within the next six weeks to address the clubrooms,” Mr Delaney said.
“If they don’t they will have to answer to the people of Narre Warren North.”
At Tuesday’s council meeting Cr Wilson moved that funds allocated to Kalora Park for new floor coverings be reallocated for a new stove and oven after the club’s committee paid for its own flooring.
