To an outsider Medowie’s Boyd Oval – described online as being ‘located next to the tennis courts and skate park catering for rugby union, cricket and touch football’ – should be a Port Stephens sporting showpiece.
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The reality, unfortunately for the Medowie sporting community users, is quite a different story.
The cricket pitch has not been used for some time and is due to be ripped out, the clubhouse is dilapidated and showing signs of wear and tear, while the driveway into the park resembles a goat track.
And it appears that only the approval of the Port Stephens Council’s proposed Special Rate Variation will deliver these repairs within a reasonable time-frame.
Home to the emerging Medowie Rugby Union Club, Boyd Oval at times in the past two seasons has attracted crowds of up to 2500 people, yet there is only a single male and female toilet.
On the day the Examiner was given a tour of the premises by rugby club president Dwayne Murphy, rain from the previous night had seeped through the rusted out roof in the storage shed where the irrigation system is stored, soaking some equipment.
Mr Murphy said the club had been waiting approximately three months for the council to repair the damaged roof.
The repair work was carried out by council the following day.
“The original clubhouse is about 30 years old and has been added on twice since then,” said Mr Murphy, who has been involved with Medowie rugby as a player and administrator for 20 years.
“About six years ago the sports council purchased a 20ft shipping container for use as back-up storage area and two years ago we had the building rendered because of cracks in the brickwork.
“It is a bit embarrassing that we have only a single toilet public toilet for men and women.”
Mr Murphy said he was a strong advocate for the SRV simply because the rugby community would be waiting a long time to have Boyd Oval upgraded, despite the clubhouse’s priority listing with the Sports Council for eight years.
“The price tag is approximately $800,000 and with growing costs just to keep our junior (around 50 members) and senior (30) players kitted out each year we could never afford it.
“Plus there’s ongoing training and gear costs.”
“It’s imperative that the money [rates] is spent on these priority projects.”