Synthetic Green Project Update

Synthetic Green Project Update

Iam sure that we were all very disappointed when the City of Joondalup informed the Club in 2019 that they would not support our undercover synthetic green proposal because necessary infrastructure services like sewerage and high pressure water are not being made available to Percy Doyle Reserve. They did however suggest a smaller project without the roof.

We were buoyed when informed that the City’s Council, at their 18 August 2020 meeting, had endorsed our grant application for the smaller scale project (no roof) that still enabled increased participation (a requirement of the Community Sport and Recreation Facility Funded (CSRFF) grant) through the installation of an extended eight rink synthetic surface and flood lighting on E green. Council’s cost estimate was $463,835, with funding met by equal contributions of around $154,600 by the City of Joondalup, State government and the Club.

The downside was that, despite the Club having the necessary skills and capacity to run such a project, Council informed the Club that the project would be managed in its entirety by the City.

We received an early Christmas present on 23 December 2020 when we were informed that the grant application was successful. However, over the next six weeks or so we started to become concerned that we had received no detailed cost breakdown or time line of the project and certain expenditures that were part of our original grant submission were seemingly being excluded, meaning that Sorrento would have to fund these items on top of the $154,600.

After numerous attempts to obtain a timetable and project detail, we

were advised by Council on 9 June 2021 that construction will be in 2022, with construction required to be completed at the latest by June 2022, with construction occurring between March 2022 to June 2022.

In August 2021 we were further advised that City officers had commenced the planning for the construction phase of the project (March 2022 to June 2022) which includes synthetic turf works (removal of old grass, new base preparation and all associated works), fencing, retaining walls, shade structure extensions and repairs, reticulation, floodlighting the E green, tree removal and replacement as per the CSRFF funding agreement.

It was also confirmed that the project does not include maintenance equipment nor storage. These would be at the Club’s expense (around $11,000) and would require a Club Funded Facility Upgrade application to implement.

Over the remaining months of 2021 the Club tried largely unsuccessfully to get further information on the detail of the project such as the type of synthetic surface being proposed, sprinkler systems and water treatment, lighting, shade sails, green layout etc.

At this time, pressure was also being applied for the Club to sign off on a Project Contribution Agreement (a legal commitment to funding) that was light on detail, especially in relation to the type of surface proposed, and sought to make Sorrento responsible for all cost overruns (despite the project being managed entirely by the City). Naturally, the Club refused to sign the Agreement.

Council finally went to tender in January 2022. At a subsequent meeting with the Club held in February 2022, Council revealed that the project cost had blown out primarily because of significant cost