Petition: Demand for Action on Excessive Sports Ground Closures

To: The Open Space Planning Division and Local Council Representatives

The Issue
In recent years, there has been a worrying trend toward frequent and seemingly ill-considered ground closures leading to cancellations of training and match-play for AFL, Football, League, Rugby, Touch/Tag. While the extreme weather of 2021 and 2022 brought about necessary caution, we have since observed a shift toward an overly conservative approach where fields are closed despite being clearly fit for play. If you thought the last couple of years were bad, this one appears to be shaping up worse!

The status quo is no longer acceptable
Excessive closures result in hundreds of children, adolescents and adults sitting idle, families becoming frustrated, and players leaving field sport altogether. Furthermore, the lack of mid-week training due to these closures leads to ill-preparedness, increasing the risk of injury during weekend matches.

Our Position
We acknowledge the complex balancing act the Council faces, including:

• Increased demand driven by the fantastic growth in female participation.
• Overlapping seasons and expectations from various sports associations.
• Budgetary and resource constraints regarding daily inspections, maintenance and remediation.

However, our priority is playability. We request that the Council tolerates a higher level of ground wear - similar to the standards maintained in decades gone by - rather than defaulting to closures.

Our Request
We, the rate-paying / tax paying residents of the Central Coast, respectfully request that the Council:

1. Review Ground Inspection Policy and its Implementation: Shift away from the current "zero-risk" model to a more pragmatic assessment. Tolerate more ground wear and lean towards a decision to play rather than not.
2. Increase Accountability: Ensure ground inspectors recognise the significant social impact of each daily decision.
3. Explore Structural Funding: If budgets are the primary constraint, we urge the Council to investigate cost-sharing models with clubs and players' associations to fund better maintenance and remediation at end of season.
4. Long-term Investment: Commit to a strategic plan for field drainage and turf quality upgrades to ensure our infrastructure can meet modern demand.

Our Expected Response from the Council

We expect the Council to officially acknowledge this petition, engage with all affected sporting associations and provide a public statement outlining the specific steps and timelines it will undertake to address these issues.

Community sport is the heartbeat of the Central Coast. We ask the Council to work with us to keep folks on the turf and our community active.