16 May 2018 Euroa Gazette, Euroa VIC (General News) by Will Murray THE Netball Court Redevelopment committee officially welcomed the opening of a new show court, and the resurfacing of the existing court a little over a month ago, with Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) congratulating organisers on a job well done. Far from being complete, however, those involved in Euroa netball are well-aware that the precinct has a long way to go before the job can be considered finished. When the netball court project was launched more than three years ago, those tasked with improving the standard of Euroas netball facilities said the redevelopment was always intended to be completed in two stages. Stage one was the construction of the new court and resurfacing of the old, which has now been completed. Stage two was to be the redevelopment of the clubs ageing and undersized changerooms, however this stage has been stalled after stage one absorbed the vast majority of the redevelopment funding. Now, with hundreds of netballers using the courts each week, the facilities are struggling to cope. The rooms were built by some amazing people that have been a part of the Euroa Football Netball Club (EFNC) for a number of years, Kate Petersen, head of the committee told the Gazette. We currently have 10 teams using the facility, with that number set to rise in the coming years, and ultimately new change rooms would facilitate all codes including womens netball, football and cricket. But that current facility was never meant to be used by so many players, and it cant handle it. The sewage system needs to be replaced, as it overflows and the smell is overwhelming. The walls inside are also compromised as they have had massive amounts of white ant damage. We had to remove a large beam that went over the toilets because it was hollow from being eaten away. The Shire of Strathbogie, which project managed stage one of the redevelopment project, and provided significant funding for the new court, said that it was not planning on providing further funding for improvements for the precinct. The Euroa Memorial Oval has had significant upgrades over recent years, with the netball courts just recently completed, a statement from council read. Among many other projects, councils priority this coming financial year is to support the Nagambie Recreation Reserve Project, as the facilities, which are regularly utilised by a variety of sporting groups, are in dire need of an upgrade. Another priority for council is to commence and complete stage one of the Friendlies Oval Project. Council said it would continue to work with various sporting clubs who make requests for assistance in improving their facilities, however, requests for funding would have to be made through the budgeting process. Euroa Netball via the Memorial Oval committee is welcome to make a budget submission which is due by close of business on Thursday, May 31, the council statement continued. Euroa netballers say that the current situation is untenable, and that the user groups, Memorial Oval committee of management and shire would need to come to some arrangement to resolve what they very much consider a dire problem. While they work out what to do about the changerooms, the Netball Court Redevelopment committee will continue to make improvements to their new court, including the addition of seating, pathways, new turf and a new scoreboard coming this week. Caption Text: NO LONGER USABLE: The netball changerooms at the Memorial Oval, which were built at a time when there were far less players using them regularly, are no longer able to cater for so many netballers, and are in desperate need of upgrading. INSET: Sewage flows from the netball changerooms, which regularly leaves players and spectators dealing with an overwhelming smell at weekend netball games.