Melton council has taken stock of scoreboards at sports reserves within the municipality, and is planning to take upgrades to this year’s budget deliberations.
Following a motion from councillor Steve Abboushi at a council meeting last year, council conducted an analysis and found half of the 18 “key” active recreation reserves in Melton don’t have up-to-standard electronic scoreboards.
At a meeting on Monday, February 26, council decided it will consider funding new electronic scoreboards for eight reserves before the next budget is released.
At an estimated $80,000 per scoreboard installation, council said it would need to allocate $640,000 to ensure all major reserves have at least the base level of electronic scoreboard available.
If accepted for the 2024-25 budget, council would install scoreboards at Aintree Recreation Reserve, Arnolds Recreation Reserve, Blackwood Drive Recreation Reserve, Ian Cowie Recreation Reserve, Kurunjang Recreation Reserve, the MacPherson Park Baseball Precinct, Spring Hills Recreation Reserve and Taylors Hill Recreation Reserve.
The MacPherson Park Rugby Precinct also does not currently have a electronic scoreboard, however, one has already been committed to as part of a current upgrade project.
Cr Abboushi said the report highlights a “great need” in the Melton municipality to make sure recreation reserves are at a particular standard.
“I think our clubs and community groups will be very happy with this report and it’s only going to add benefit to the community,” he said.
