MILDURA Council has been caught out putting the wrong type of sand on the four new beach volleyball courts at Mildura Sporting Precinct, forcing a lengthy delay to the project.
The beach volleyball courts at MSP were due for opening by the end of last year, but it is unclear when play will begin at the $47.5 million precinct after local volleyball officials raised concerns about the sand being too coarse – and potentially dangerous – for use.
Locals sent samples of the sand for testing in late summer to the state volleyball governing body, where experts confirmed it was not compliant for competitions.
Volleyball Victoria chief executive Cori Wilder said yesterday it had earlier offered to provide compliant sand to Mildura Council for free.
It was from an international beach volleyball pro-tour event at Geelong in November last year.
The council only needed to arrange for transportation of the sand, she said. But, inexplicably, the offer wasn’t taken up.
Sunraysia Daily asked the council why it didn’t take advantage of the generous offer, but a spokesperson didn’t respond to the direct question.
The spokesman did, however, confirm the sand on the courts now was “locally sourced”.
In seeking to find out who was to blame for the fiasco, Sunraysia Daily also asked whether the contractor had followed specifications issued by the council in placing the non-compliant sand.
However, we received no response.
“Local recreation stuff that Parks Victoria is going to put (on to a court) is probably what that sand is,” Ms Wilder said.
She said the delay to the opening of the MSP beach volleyball courts had cost Mildura the opportunity to host a masters event, and possibly other high-level tournaments, before the sport’s season ends in the next month.
In what would have been a big tourism money spinner, dozens of teams, along with their families, would have travelled to Mildura for the masters event, she said.
The council spokesman said it apologised for any delays.
But it’s cold comfort for Sunraysia Volleyball, who contributed $40,000 to the project.
The local body said it was “very keen” to start running social competitions at the site.
“We would like Volleyball Victoria and Mildura Rural City Council to come to some sort of agreement so we can use it,” Sunraysia Volleyball secretary Matt Wilkes said.
“Volleyball Victoria haven’t endorsed us to use it. Our registrations and insurances go through them, so if we started using it and someone got hurt, we wouldn’t be covered.
“That’s probably the frustrating part for us. We want it to be safe and of the highest quality, but we really just want to start playing on it.”
Ms Wilder said the state body wanted to showcase the MSP beach volleyball venue to the world.
“Adelaide is hosting the world beach volleyball championships next year, and we expect the legacy of this major event to make beach volleyball more popular,” she said.
“We definitely want to see (Mildura’s courts) be a feature where we can bring up state teams to prepare for the nationals, and we want it to be a destination for big tournaments.
“There’s so much potential for it.”
She urged Mildura Council to get the courts compliant for play without further delay.
“Don’t wait for next summer,” Ms Wilder said.
“If they can right it soon, those courts will be filled with teams; I guarantee it.”
A council spokesman said it was “continuing to work with our contractor to resolve the issue as soon as possible”.
