Suburban/Country Grounds

Roogal

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Ballarat Eastern Oval: The City of Ballarat has just released a public tender calling for interested bidders to supply and construct sports lighting at the ground to Cricket Class II standard (500 lux at centrefield and 300 lux at outer boundaries). The tenders close on 5th December 2018.

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Kingpin

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I’ve never been there myself but Devonport looks like an absolute treat in TassieView attachment 499839
Home of the Devonport Magpies in the NWFL.
Hosted TFL Statewide League matches there between 1987-2000 including many finals games.
Also hosted the old Tasmanian State Grand Final several times. Was/is a vastly superior ground to Burnie's West Park Oval.
 

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Johnny Bananas

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Can anyone explain to me why Lavington Oval is the ground in Albury getting the government funded upgrade? It sits on the very edge of town, whereas the home ground of Albury Tigers is right next to the city centre and river. I've never been to Albury so I have no idea what the complications are, but it doesn't seem smart in a logistical sense for big crowds. I get that Lavington was the ground in better shape even before the redevelopment since O&M Grand Finals were played there, but if a top facility is being built you'd figure it would go to easier place to access.
 
Can anyone explain to me why Lavington Oval is the ground in Albury getting the government funded upgrade? It sits on the very edge of town, whereas the home ground of Albury Tigers is right next to the city centre and river. I've never been to Albury so I have no idea what the complications are, but it doesn't seem smart in a logistical sense for big crowds. I get that Lavington was the ground in better shape even before the redevelopment since O&M Grand Finals were played there, but if a top facility is being built you'd figure it would go to easier place to access.

its boxed in on two sides by roads, and its got the aquatic centre on the other side, and the Murray as well. To expand it to include stands for seating, you would have knock out some of the local public use areas

this is underlined by the fact it currently has 40% of the capacity of Lavington (8000 compared to 20000 - 2600 seated). its in a better location, but there isnt much room between the roads
 

Johnny Bananas

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its boxed in on two sides by roads, and its got the aquatic centre on the other side, and the Murray as well. To expand it to include stands for seating, you would have knock out some of the local public use areas

this is underlined by the fact it currently has 40% of the capacity of Lavington (8000 compared to 20000 - 2600 seated). its in a better location, but there isnt much room between the roads

Makes sense. If I were running Albury City Council I'd consider relocating the pool and turning the oval 90 degrees to have the room for a full stadium. It'd cost more, but if we were thinking long term it might be worth it, the location looks prime.
 

budge27

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Can anyone explain to me why Lavington Oval is the ground in Albury getting the government funded upgrade? It sits on the very edge of town, whereas the home ground of Albury Tigers is right next to the city centre and river. I've never been to Albury so I have no idea what the complications are, but it doesn't seem smart in a logistical sense for big crowds. I get that Lavington was the ground in better shape even before the redevelopment since O&M Grand Finals were played there, but if a top facility is being built you'd figure it would go to easier place to access.

Plus Lavy Oval sits on the side of a hill which provides a natural amphitheater and enables alot of standing room for big events like the O&M GF, AFL practice matches and BBL matches. The ground at Albury doesn’t have this ability and is quite constrained as others have stated, it’s a very central location but that’s about it. Also used to have a shocking playing surface that turned into a bog heap in the middle of winter due to a lack of suitable drainage, Lavy however was almost always in pristine condition.
 

Johnny Bananas

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Plus Lavy Oval sits on the side of a hill which provides a natural amphitheater and enables alot of standing room for big events like the O&M GF, AFL practice matches and BBL matches. The ground at Albury doesn’t have this ability and is quite constrained as others have stated, it’s a very central location but that’s about it.
Here's the sort of answer I was looking for. That's certainly a good reason why it's been better for people to go to until now, and why O&M GFs are held there. $10M just got ploughed into it to bring it to the BBL/AFL practice match standard, which is $10M that can't go towards a location that is probably better for the long term. But I guess that's a long way off anyway, since Albury is half the size of Ballarat and not growing anywhere near as quickly. Lavington does the job for now then, even if it's right at the edge of town.

Also used to have a shocking playing surface that turned into a bog heap in the middle of winter due to a lack of suitable drainage, Lavy however was almost always in pristine condition.
This is exactly the sort of thing that ground upgrades can fix. Since you speak in the past tense I imagine it has been fixed?
 

budge27

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Here's the sort of answer I was looking for. That's certainly a good reason why it's been better for people to go to until now, and why O&M GFs are held there. $10M just got ploughed into it to bring it to the BBL/AFL practice match standard, which is $10M that can't go towards a location that is probably better for the long term. But I guess that's a long way off anyway, since Albury is half the size of Ballarat and not growing anywhere near as quickly. Lavington does the job for now then, even if it's right at the edge of town.


This is exactly the sort of thing that ground upgrades can fix. Since you speak in the past tense I imagine it has been fixed?

Sorry can’t answer that one... been a long time since I’ve been to Albury sports ground, might need some one who is local to reply ...
 

Roogal

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its boxed in on two sides by roads, and its got the aquatic centre on the other side, and the Murray as well. To expand it to include stands for seating, you would have knock out some of the local public use areas

this is underlined by the fact it currently has 40% of the capacity of Lavington (8000 compared to 20000 - 2600 seated). its in a better location, but there isnt much room between the roads
Sounds a lot like Ballarat's Eastern Oval :) It too is the most popular local ground but is land locked by roads, a bowling club and a creek.
 
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Rouel_14

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Lavington Sports Ground though it needs some love is pretty spectacular.

The hills in the background and the hill in which makes it feel like an amphitheatre also makes for an awesome atmosphere.
Been to many an O&M grand finals when the place was rocking.

Another reason is that Public transport isn’t great in suburban cities, meaning that cars are the best form of transport meaning a lot of parking space is needed. Lavi has that.

They should be having JLT games every year. Footy heartland, a passion for the game and extremely underrated venue.

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Lavington Sports Ground though it needs some love is pretty spectacular.

The hills in the background and the hill in which makes it feel like an amphitheatre also makes for an awesome atmosphere.
Been to many an O&M grand finals when the place was rocking.

Another reason is that Public transport isn’t great in suburban cities, meaning that cars are the best form of transport meaning a lot of parking space is needed. Lavi has that.

They should be having JLT games every year. Footy heartland, a passion for the game and extremely underrated venue.

View attachment 732354


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
Went there for a Sydney v Saints JLT game, was incredibly impressed. Describing it as an ampitheatre is incredibly accurate and stand on the hill feels like Level 2 at the MCG :)
 
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