Sunbury Lions Football Netball Club is calling on Hume council to urgently upgrade its netball courts to accommodate growing numbers of players.
The Lions made a submission to the council’s draft 2018-19 budget, calling for $120,000 to be made available to reconfigure the netball court at Sunbury Recreation Reserve back to two courts.
Club secretary Allan O’Connor said the current single court was “inadequate”.
“We now have five senior netball teams and are expected to have six next season, meaning we will not be able to accommodate all teams on the same day with one court,” he said.
“We also have three junior netball teams and are expecting to go to four next season.
“Netball participation is continuing to grow and as a consequence our single netball court facility has become inadequate.”
The Lions are also calling for the lights at the reserve to be upgraded to allow night netball matches.
The council was planning to upgrade the lights in 2019-20 as part of its outdoor sports lighting policy, but the Lions would like the upgrade to be completed earlier.
Mr O’Connor said it was imperative that netball teams could train and play games at night in conjunction with the football matches.
“With outdoor participation consistently growing, expanding the facility beyond a single court and having greater flexibility in timing of matches that comes with adequate lighting will benefit all users,” he said.
The Lions’ submission was one of 23 received by the council, following the release of its draft budget on April 30.
Other submissions included a request for $55,000 to help the Northern Community Legal Centre relocate from Gladstone Park to its new office at Broadmeadows station; an upgrade of the child care centre yard at the Meadow Heights Education Centre; and installing toilets, an outdoor sink and seating at the Craigieburn Community Garden.
The council held a special council meeting on June 4 to hear submissions and is expected to adopt the budget on June 25.
