Secretary of the Boomi Fishing Club Fred Hobday, left, Boomi Sportsground Reserve Trust Chairman Bart Officer, Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, Boomi Campdraft Association President David Oates and Trust secretary John Oates discuss the sportsground’s future yesterday.
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
THE effort to freshen up Boomi’s sportsground has received new stimulus, after the Boomi Sportsground Reserve Trust secured $16,219 in State Government funding for maintenance works.
“This funding will help the Trust take down old boundary fencing and build a new fence while tidying up the boundary line,” said Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, who announced the grant yesterday in Boomi.
“It’s one step in the community’s long road to overhauling the classic ground. Like so many of these public reserves, the original infrastructure was built of timber and it now requires sustained effort to keep those buildings functional and legal.”
“The Public Reserves Management Fund supports the people behind the hundreds of voluntary public groups that keep these community assets alive.
“Without the people, and without this funding, our struggling country towns would lose large parts of their heritage and the infrastructure necessary to bring people and revenue into the area.”
Mr Marshall also announced $1,600 for the Boomi Amateur Fishing Club from the government’s Habitat Action Grants program.
The funds will be used for prizes for junior anglers at the club’s annual Fish On event.
Trust Chairman Bart Officer said after the fencing was renewed, the community would look at tapping more PRMF funding to overhaul the sports ground’s classic open-air bush bar.
The ground hosts an annual campdraft to raise money for Boomi’s three churches, and a ‘mud trial’ event, in addition to being a favoured stop-over for car rallies.
The 2016/17 funding allocation from the Public Reserves Management Fund Program is part of an $18 million annual program of grants and loans from the NSW Government to support the development, maintenance and protection of the public reserves.
This year, more than $550,000 was secured for projects across the Northern Tablelands.