Many of you will be aware by now of the decision by the Level Crossing Removal Authority to occupy Ferrie Oval during the completion of the Toorak Road level crossing works. The Authority will be using Ferrie Oval to store equipment, erect site huts and park cars and trucks etc. Unfortunately this means that the entire Ferrie Oval playing field will be fenced off and unable to be used until at least late 2020 or early 2021 as it will take some time after completion of the Level Crossing works to remove all of the site huts and equipment and then reinstate and repair the playing surface to a condition where it can be used for football.
We have been advised that the last day that we can use Ferrie Oval will be Sunday 2 June 2019. The following Sunday being 9 June 2019 is the Queens Birthday long weekend when there is no scheduled football matches. From Sunday 16 June 2019 the football matches that would otherwise have been scheduled to take place on Ferrie Oval will instead be relocated to Gardiner Park which is the synthetic surface oval just past Bounce between Tooronga and Gardiner Stations.
The new pavilion at Gardiner Park is nearly completed and we have been advised by Stonnington Council that it is due to be completed and ready for use in July 2019. Below are some photos of the Gardiner Park playing surface and the new pavilion.
At this stage our preference is to keep everyone together on our Friday night trainings and not relocate some of our teams who train on a Friday night to Gardiner Park. Other options include us making more use of TH King on Friday nights and/or perhaps making use of the small soccer oval closest to Glenferrie Road. Jan is working through the logistics of all this and we will advise further shortly.
Lights on Ferrie Oval
As a matter of interest, by way of compensation to the Gladiators Football Club for the significant inconvenience that we will suffer by reason of losing access to Ferrie Oval for 1-2 years we have asked both Stonnington Council and the Level Crossing Removal Authority to assist with Planning Approval and funding for installation of floodlights on Ferrie Oval. We believe that this installation could take place during the Ferrie Oval reinstatement period after the Level Crossing Removal works have completed. At present there are no lights on Ferrie Oval and during most of the season we cannot use the ground much past 5pm due to the fading light. To have lights on Ferrie Oval would mean that we could make much more use of the oval throughout the season.
We will keep you informed of further developments as they arise…
