Approved planning approval for the Forestville Hockey Club to build an all-weather multi-use playing surface – to be built at Unley High School – has been welcomed as a ‘win’ for future students and players.
The project will see the development of a 6000sqm synthetic grass pitch suitable for hockey, netball, five-a-side soccer and touch football with floodlights, changerooms and clubrooms.
Construction is expected to begin before Christmas, with the Minister for Education, Training and Skills Blair Boyer and the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing Katrine Hildyard visiting the site today for a ceremonial ‘sod turning’.
A long-term agreement will be established with the Forestville Hockey Club for the use of the pitch and amenities once completed, but Unley High School will retain exclusive use during school hours. This will mean students can use the pitch before school, during physical education classes and during recess or lunch breaks.
The pitch will be a multi-sport surface, made from plastic resin derived from bio-ethylene, a waste product of sugar cane production. It will be sand-dressed to reduce heat, eliminate the need for watering and create a 90 per cent biobased surface.
As put by Katrine Hildyard
It is really important we encourage people to get involved in sport and recreation and experience the physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing benefits of being so.
To enable as many people as possible to experience those benefits, we need versatile playing spaces. We are proud to support the development of this multi-use space and recognise the value and possibilities it brings to the school and wider community as well as to hockey club members.
This collaboration between the school, the hockey club and the community is a shining example of what is possible when organisations work positively together to create environments that have the health and wellbeing of people at their heart.
As put by Blair Boyer
The Forestville Hockey Club has been working closely with Unley High School with the development enabling students to play hockey, netball, six-a-side soccer and touch football on a year-round, multi-purpose surface – not just hockey.
To have public education and public school students benefit from this community development is exceptional and a real credit to the hockey club for their investment in playing an important role in the community more broadly.
As put by Unley High School Principal Greg Rolton
Our students will benefit from this multi-sport facility before school hours, during physical education classes and during the lunch breaks – using it predominately for netball, touch football, and five-a-side soccer.
Space for our student community to be active and engaged is always a priority, with this project further expanding on the space provided by our gymnasium and two outdoor basketball courts.
This project has the support not only of our student community but parents and the governing council.
