By Dongyun Kwon
The Yarra Glen sports pavilion was damaged by flooding once again on Monday 8 January, which was already the second time in 18 months.
Three sports clubs, Yarra Glen Football and Netball Club, Yarra Glen Junior Football and Netball Club and Yarra Glen Cricket Club, share the pavilion as tenants of the property.
Yarra Glen Football and Netball Club treasurer David Ball said mud came through the building with water.
“The old carpet was saturated and muddy got through the rooms,” he said.
“Our storeroom, which is a little bit lower than the clubrooms’ floor, was totally engulfed in water, so some equipment and things in there got a bit water-damaged.
“The netball courts had mud going across them and water seems to have come up from underneath one of the courts and cracked in the surface.”
Mr Ball said Yarra Glen Football and Netball Club got less damage than that of the previous floods.
“Most of our equipment like football jumpers were all stored away from the affected areas,” he said.
“Fortunately, we didn’t have that damage compared to the previous one.
“In October and November 2022, the place got totally flooded and we had a lot of equipment destroyed in the water.”
Yarra Glen Cricket Club uses the facility during the summer.
Yarra Glen Cricket Club president Travis Gloury said they tried to jump onto it quickly as they learnt from the previous experience.
“We were fortunate in a sense that we didn’t have a lot sitting on the ground and everything that we did have sitting on the ground, we were able to get it off the ground the day before,” he said.
“However, it was basically carpet, the MDF skirting boards and the plaster around the building got wet.
“We cleaned it up pretty much that night, got the dehumidifiers in the fans, who tried to get rid of the moisture as quickly as we could to help prevent any further damage.”
The land is owned by Melbourne Water and is leased to the Yarra Ranges Council (YRC) and YRC owns the buildings.
YRC Built Environment and Infrastructure Director Phil Murton said they are aware of the flooding issue during recent extreme weather.
“Flooding regularly impacts the recreation reserve, but the pavilion has been impacted by floodwaters in 2022 and again in the recent floods,” he said.
“Our insurance company has been out to assess the damage and we are waiting for the insurance assessor to identify the next steps for rectification.”
Mr Ball said the council has been quite good with minor upgrades over the years.
“Just before the previous floods and straight after the floods, the council was looking at building a new pavilion and then having it raised so that it wouldn’t actually be impacted by floods if we had floods in the future, But that’s been pushed back, unfortunately,” he said.
Federal Casey MP Aaron Violi came down to the Yarra Glen sports pavilion to meet the three clubs’ representatives to discuss the solutions on Thursday 18 January.
Mr Violi said it’s devastating to see the clubrooms heavily damaged by flooding twice in 18 months.
“Having played junior cricket at Yarra Glen Cricket Club, I know firsthand that flooding has been an issue at the reserve for decades,” he said.
“I’m committed to working with the clubs and all levels of government to try and find both short and long-term solutions to these challenges.”
Mr Ball said he hopes the clubrooms will get fixed before they start tenancy in March.
“In 2023, we didn’t get back into the rooms until August, so we had to play our first half of the season away games,” he said.
“This year, we’re looking forward to a nice and clean start, but the rooms have been damaged again.”
