Princess Park and the surrounding amenities suffered significant damage during the floods, with the site needing extensive repair works to the grounds and facilities. Greater Shepparton City Council officers have been working continuously since the floods to bring the oval and grounds back to their original condition, to allow them to be utilised by sporting clubs once again.
A temporary modular player and umpires change room building, being provided by the AFL and Ausco, will now start to take shape. The other temporary infrastructure, including converted shipping containers, kitchen facilities and toilets, will all start to follow over the next few weeks. To allow for this, temporary fencing was installed at the western side of Princess Park on Friday and is likely to remain in place for up to two weeks, with the internal track unavailable during this time.
In addition, there is likely to be multiple contractors, equipment and vehicles accessing the site throughout the month while the temporary facilities are installed. Residents and visitors in the area are encouraged to avoid the area where possible while works are underway.
Council’s Director Infrastructure, Gary Randhawa, said the temporary facilities were the final piece to allow Princess Park to be utilised once again as an important sporting field and recreation reserve in the region.
“Council is looking forward to seeing these temporary facilities installed ahead of the upcoming football season,” he said.
“We thank user groups and the community for their patience over the past five months as Council staff worked to get the facilities back to their previous standard.
“Council will continue to work closely with user groups, stakeholders and other multi-agencies to understand and develop the best long-term strategy for the whole facility, to ensure that any future disruption is minimised.”
