On Wednesday August 31, a ‘Save Our Park’ barbeque will be held to raise awareness for what a community’s future holds.
Located in Brunswick, Clifton Park is one of the most used facilities for the locals in the metropolitan Melbourne suburb. Part of the appeal is the current playing surface, which is made up of pure synthetic material and will not suffer major damage from wear and tear.
However, a complication has arisen, with the contrary view from councillors of their plan to rip up the trusty synthetic and replace it – prompting fear from clubs who believe the playing surface is not one that should make way.
The main sticking point is where to spend a budgeted $650,000 in 2023-24. Instead of resurfacing Clifton Park with general maintenance, the money is intended to go towards getting rid of the synthetic and replacing it with natural turf.
Two of the clubs involved in the campaign – Pascoe Vale FC and Brunswick Zebras – are united in the view that eradicating the synthetic is not the solution, and that councillors need to listen to valuable opinions of those at the heart of the facility and know the ins and outs of its value.
It is hoped that the upcoming get together on Wednesday night will be a turning point in what would work towards an ideal outcome, where Pascoe Vale FC Chairman Lou Tona is one of the supporters.
“We’d love it if the entire football community could come down and support the Clifton Park pitch,” he said to Soccerscene.
“It’s an important piece of infrastructure that we want to keep – we’re not asking for another playing surface, it’s just to maintain the one we’ve got.
“We desperately need it because normal grounds cannot cope and leads to cancellations of training, across all codes.
“The synthetic pitch is required and we can’t afford for it to be taken away.”
Part of the argument for the proposed synthetic pitch removal is concerns surrounding the harm that it may cause, related to health and the environment.
This was outlined by Cr Angelica Panopoulos of the Greens:
“By June 2023, Council will develop a report concerning the damaging effects that synthetic materials like fake grass have on human health and the environment, such as urban heat, excess water usage and plastic waste,” Panopoulos said in a statement.
While the statement covers genuine issues, it does not factor in community and sporting needs that Clifton Park best serves.
Essentially, there needs to be a more widespread view on what contributes to health and environment problems, rather than signalling out the synthetic pitch as a problem.
In a statement by Brunswick Zebras – another club backing the campaign – it is all about doing further research on the pros and cons of synthetic before deciding on a knee-jerk reaction.
“Clifton Park synthetic has become a valuable shared facility due to both wet weather and past droughts. This year our club’s ability to cater for the growing demand of natural playing fields has been tested, compounded by the poor maintenance and repair of our three natural turf fields at Balfe, Sumner and Ryder Parks,” they said.
“It has been claimed that the $650,000 for the upgrade could instead be used to demolish the Clifton Park synthetic and replace it with a natural turf. The claim is that this new pitch would have between 40 and 60 hours of carrying capacity – currently our grounds are considered to have a carrying capacity of 20 to 25 hours per week.
“As a Club we would like this claim tested on an upgraded existing football field, not used as an excuse to demolish the synthetic.”
Pascoe Vale and Brunswick Zebras are just two of a multitude of clubs set to come together on Wednesday night.
They encourage anyone who opposes the synthetic pitch removal to head down to Clifton Park for a BBQ from 6pm, with the meeting a sign of solidarity for an important cause.
