Sports Grounds Conditions

Regular inspections of sports grounds are being undertaken to ensure that grounds are suitable for play and results of these inspections can be found in the table below. In addition to these inspections, clubs should continue their own inspection regime (as required in Council's Tenancy Agreements) to satisfy themselves that grounds are suitable for play.

If you have any further queries please contact the City of Ballarat on 03 5320 7409.

Conditions as at  26 July 2007: 

Please note:

1. Different inspection criteria are used on the Prince of Wales Park fields as compared with other venues
2. Next inspection will be completed when we experience conditions that are likely to change the status of the grounds.

Definitions of Open and Closed

Open

Means that a turf sports ground has scored highly enough in assessment criteria to ensure that fully competitive sport can be played safely on the surface.

This assessment is based on a weighted system that takes into consideration the following attributes of a playing surface: grass cover of the playing surface; condition of the surface cover- health and height; surface evenness- undulations, holes, tussocks, weeds etc; stability when travelling from grassed to bare areas; hardness of the playing surface; presence of cracks and holes sufficient to cause tripping; damage due to machinery; and levels between the wicket area and surrounds etc. Other issues on and around the ground are also checked, such as sprinkler heads, position of signage, boundary fences, light towers, flag poles etc. to make sure they will not interfere with players or cause injury.

Closed

Closed for full competitive sport. Grounds listed as closed may be used for training where the training regime has been altered to reflect the ground condition.

Contact Details

For further information about the Sports Ground Conditions please contact Customer Service on 03 5320 5500 or email ballcity@ballarat.vic.gov.au.