I HAVEN’T seen anything more ridiculous than what happened this week between the Mildura Harness Racing Club (MHRC) and City Oval co-tenants Mildura and Imperials.
Denying timekeepers access to the use of the Ray Hepworth Centre on match days and forcing them into the grandstand isn’t a solution.
I understand the MHRC’s frustration at the lack of respect shown for the facility by some users.
I also appreciate officials of the MHRC have tried to facilitate meetings to resolve and discuss their concerns, but locking the doors and forcing volunteers out into the cold doesn’t resolve the issue.
Co-existing is a fact of life and when you are involved in a shared situation you need to show a little bit of flexibility and co-operation.
I know those involved in the harness racing fraternity will think I am siding with the tenant clubs; that isn’t the case.
In fact, I totally understand where harness officials are coming from.
I know they have been extremely tolerant over a long period of time and their frustration has boiled over.
But surely it is a bit extreme to just lock the doors and wipe your hands of it.
There are plenty of intelligent people involved in all three clubs to think if they sat down together, they could find some common ground. If it is just a matter of the room being left in an unsatisfactory state, I wouldn’t think this would be grounds for a total lock-out.
Maybe it’s as simple as having a formal agreement drawn up between all concerned parties.
If the conditions outlined in the agreement are breached by any of the parties then there would be grounds to terminate.
It’s how most co-tenant arrangements work.
But my real issue with this, is the people who are most affected are the volunteers.
Unpaid individuals who put their hand up each week to help out their club.
It’s hard enough getting people to help out around a footy and netball club without the added deterrent of having to spend the afternoon sitting in an open grandstand.
It doesn’t sound very appealing to me, but that is what time keepers for the match of the round today between Imperials and Irymple will be forced to do unless something is done to fix the problem.
Or is there an even more simple solution – build a dedicated timekeepers’ box.
Every other ground in the SFNL has one.
How difficult would it be?
I’m sure between the Mildura Rural City Council and the two clubs involved, they could find the funds to build a simple timekeepers’ box.
Come on, let’s not make this a massive issue, find a solution and move on.
Remember it’s the poor blokes who have to spend their Saturday afternoon sitting in a cold grand stand who are the ones most affected by this.
