Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall met with members Sapphire City Motor Sports Club at their new home base, the Graman Sports Ground. Pictured from left are Matt Potbury, David Peel, Adam Marshall, Dillon Tanner, Duane O’Brien and Spanner Tanner.
MEMBER for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall travelled to Graman last week to meet with the members of the Sapphire City Motor Sports Club and discuss their plans to upgrade the Graman Sports Ground, after receiving a grant of $27,500 from the NSW Government Public Reserve Management Fund.
Mr Marshall said the club had been appointed trustees of the grounds about 18 months ago after members approached the Inverell Shire Council with their plan to use the ground for their club’s activities.
“This a wonderful opportunity for the Graman community – the Sapphire City Motor Sports Club has been working hard over the past 12 months to breathe new life into the sports ground and I must commend them on their commitment and enthusiasm for this project,” he said.
“They will be using the grounds for their club motor sport events and they are particularly pleased to have a home ground to give young ‘L’ and ‘P’ plate drivers somewhere to hone their driving skills.
“It’s very much a family orientated club and I’m delighted that I have been able to help them secure this funding which they will use to construct a perimeter and security fence around the ground,” he said.
Mr Marshall said a big focus for the club was driver education, getting young people off the street and involving them in a community-based club.
“It’s a very active club where they have about 40 regulars participate in their club runs and they intend to team up with other motor sports club to run events at the ground,” he said.
“The added benefit is the whole Graman community will benefit from all this activity in town.
“They’ve organised the local community hall committee to do some catering for them and after most events they move up to the hotel to enjoy a meal – it’s a great outcome for everyone in the Graman community.”
Sapphire City Motors Sports Club president Dillon Tanner said the funding was a great boost for their club and the community.
“We’ve done a lot of work in the past 12 months and there is a lot more to do but this funding is a great help,” Mr Tanner said.
“We need to get the security fence up before we can run any events on the grounds.
“We will put in a perimeter fence as well and the security fencing will go up in front of the spectator area – people can get closer to the action if we have these fences installed so we’re really looking forward to getting on with this project.
“It’s an exciting step for our club and we really appreciate the assistance we’ve received from Adam.”