Wyndham council will receive a $200,000 grant from the state government to fund the installation of new oval lighting at Galvin Park.
The field is home for the Werribee Centrals’ men and women’s football, netball and cricket teams and the group says they’re “ecstatic” to be receiving the investment.
“If you don’t know much about Werribee Centrals, it’s a club that basically built itself. All the lights and all of the facilities that we’ve got, we’ve built ourselves,” club spokesperson Alan Stewart said.
The current light towers, put up in the early 80s, were too short and not bright enough, Mr Stewart said, and replacing them was outside the scope of a small sporting club’s capabilities.
“In the old days, council didn’t have the money…so this club has built itself up,” he said.
Mr Stewart said the poor lighting conditions have impacted the club in numerous ways.
“It doesn’t allow you to use a lot of areas on the ground because the lights…aren’t up to scratch. So you’re basically traveling across the brighter areas of the ground all the time so that has wear and tear on the ground,” Mr Stewart said.
“The other thing is power for the old style lights is huge compared to the newer LED lights, LED is probably only 20 to 30 per cent of the cost.”
The grant was announced by Community Sport Minister Ros Spence on Thursday, April 21, and is one of 14 new projects to be funded by the 2021-22 Country Football and Netball Program.
“Country football and netball is the lifeblood of regional communities and plays a vital role in maintaining a positive spirit in good and tough times,” Ms Spence said.
‘We’re delighted to back even more projects that can make a real difference in people’s lives.”
