AN experienced sporting administrator is hoping for Ipswich City Council approval to “level” the Bill Paterson Oval running track citing safety concerns for young people and the public.
Ipswich Little Athletics Centre manager Dan Johnson has even offered a solution as he awaits further direction from Council.
Johnson is aware the heavily used track is built on an old dump but he said: “so are 80 percent of sports grounds in Australia”.
Competitors from the Rosewood Little Athletics Centre have been regular users of the Bill Paterson Oval while construction work at their Rosewood State High School base is finished.
Johnson said the back straight of the Limestone Park grass surface was “as wavey as Bondi” and “it’s just leading to injuries”.
Council has been doing maintenance on the field in recent days.
However, Johnson said aerating the track was not enough to reduce the risk of injuries caused by running on an uneven surface.
He has been invited to a meeting on November 18, and is keen to work with Council to get the track levelled “given it’s a public field or Council grounds”.
“All the infrastructure on the place is ours,” Johnson said.
“They [Council] do the mowing but we do all the line-marking.
“We support all the community groups that come and use it throughout the off-season – for their school athletics carnivals.
“We provide equipment, we provide assistance and we can’t get them to actually run a grader over it and level it so that it’s a safe environment.”
Johnson has been exploring options to improve the track.
“I’ve been looking at sourcing some quotes that we could laser-level the track and returf it for about $50,000,” he said.
“All I need is Council to approve it.
“We don’t want anyone more injured and we deserve a better facility.”
Johnson said injuries being suffered by track users were “mainly ankle and knee” but also to shoulders and arms as they hit the ground “because they lost their footing”.
Ipswich Little Athletics, the Ipswich and District Athletic Club and many regional schools regularly use the track and surrounding field for training and competitions.
Long-time teacher Johnson took over the centre manager role this year having a diverse background in education and as a former player, coach and referee.
Johnson said Council had accepted his concerns and “were following it up” as the latest maintenance continued.
“We can’t just keep letting it [the track] sink, given it’s the only athletics track in Ipswich.”
