After a year off, the Broadford sporting community has flicked the switch on four newly-installed 30-metre light towers at its home ground Harley Hammond Reserve Oval.
The new $297,000 light towers, funded by the Mitchell Shire Council, each house four energy-efficient LED lamps that can be set to 50 lux for training and 100 lux for competitions, in line with current Australian standards for local football. The lights have the capacity to be upgraded to 150 lux in the future.
The new lighting increases visibility across the ground, meaning more sections of the oval can be used for training, especially through winter.
Mitchell Shire Mayor Rhonda Sanderson and Cr Bill Chisholm joined Broadford Football Netball Club for their season launch on Thursday night to see the oval lit up.
“The new lighting upgrade allows the local sporting community to train in a safer environment,” Cr Sanderson said.
“The Harley Hammond improvements help boost training and competition opportunities and it is exciting to be able to hold night football matches in future.”
This is in addition to the site’s playing surface and irrigation upgrades in 2017, which have increased the oval’s overall capacity to be used by Broadford Football Netball Club, Broadford Junior Football Netball Club, Broadford Auskick and Broadford Cricket Club.
The lights are also designed to shine more directly onto the oval, reducing the visual impact on surrounding areas.
Harley Hammond Reserve Committee of Management president Peter Duncan expressed his gratitude to the council for funding the new infrastructure.
“It’s terrific to have these new lights which really add to the precinct at Harley Hammond Reserve and help bring these fantastic sports to more people,” he said.
A separate construction project is underway at the reserve with new netball and tennis courts and a shared-use pavilion for the groups being funded by Mitchell Shire Council and the State Government through Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Female Friendly Facilities Fund and the Harley Hammond Reserve Committee of Management.