Dear Newington Community,
I am pleased to let you know we are progressing an agreement with the Inner West Council to help upgrade the Tempe Reserve playing grounds in return for a long-term licence to use them.
We have established that our winter sports program relies on the Tempe fields to operate on Saturdays. We do not have enough ovals at Stanmore to cater for the number of students involved in sport. Our commitment to Tempe will upgrade an asset used by both our students and, importantly, our Inner West community.
With our significant contribution of several million dollars, some grass fields will be restored and others will be resurfaced with synthetic turf. Everyone will benefit. Our boys will get to play on much better surfaces. We will get the certainty of a long-term licence of either 21 or 30 years, instead of our current year-by-year arrangement. Games and practices will not be washed off after a light fall of rain.
Local sporting clubs – such as the Marrickville Red Devils – will get to use better surfaces later in the afternoon, in the evenings and on Sundays, the times they often prefer. The usage of the fields has the potential to be doubled, expanding opportunities for codes and local teams to play at home. Local clubs will also benefit from more weather-proof surfaces. It’s exciting to know the same financial contribution can bring such benefit to both our students and the local community of which we are a proud part.
This is a great example of a school working in partnership with a local council. I would particularly like to thank Inner West Council’s Mayor Darcy Byrne, General Manager Michael Deegan and the many council officers who have worked productively with us. I also thank our College Council and Newington staff – and this includes my predecessor Dr David Mulford – because this project started a long time ago and has taken many years to reach this stage.
You can find the media release from the Inner West Council here.
Mr Michael Parker
Headmaster
