Perth Voice Interactive

FEES for juniors playing sports on Vincent ovals are likely to be reinstated.

Back when communist Jack Marks was mayor, Vincent council slashed juniors’ fees and then abolished them altogether. But now clubs are growing, the ovals are getting overused and it’s costly to maintain them.

The effects of 314 pairs of junior soccer boots and all those studs leave fields muddied and bare. Then 4500 beastly rugby players leave footprints like little dinosaurs. Cricket players don’t really affect much because there’s a grand total of 22 in the town and, well, it’s not really a sport, is it.

Many clubs have huge contingents of non-resident members, meaning they don’t even pay for turf restoration via their rates.

Mayor John Carey says “there are some clubs operating with very minimal City of Vincent resident participation at ratepayer cost,” with the WA junior rugby playing on Britannia Reserve being a prominent example.

“Ratepayers should not have to shoulder the cost of damage to that oval.”

Staff initially planned to only charge clubs whose membership of Vincent folk was less than half. Each member would then have to pay $5 a season, amounting to an extra $30,000 a year in revenue.

Cr James Peart points out that’s a little unfair as it punishes Vincent kids who play sports that aren’t popular locally.

Instead, the council will investigate how it can charge only the out-of-towners.

by DAVID BELL