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Things are looking much brighter in Whyalla … literally!
I was at our spectacular beach area the other evening and what a delight it was on a balmy autumn evening. From the foreshore, I was attracted by some bright lights and the gentle thump of tennis and basketball balls in the early evening.
What a welcoming sight it was when I went over to the Ada Ryan Gardens to see our new tennis and basketball courts lit up with the wonderful new floodlights. There were families there having a hit on the tennis courts and a bunch of very athletic young people bouncing off the basketball backboard.
Excuse the pun, but the atmosphere was electric and the laughter from everyone having a hit or a dunk was wonderful.
It’s all part of Council’s programs to upgrade our gardens. The same sort of lights have gone up at Wilson Park with the line-marking and fencing next to go up on the freshly laid tennis and basketball courts
This is one of the most satisfying uses of Whyalla’s ratepayers’ money along with the grants and funding we are able to secure to keep our city looking great. A big call out must also go to our hard-working council staff that combine with contractors to make these projects happen.
From the work and time the elected members put in, to the planning from our infrastructure department and the hard yakka from our construction crews and contractors, it has been a mighty effort to coordinate these projects and get these improvements made to our reserves.
You only have to look at the impressive new viewing steps at the Wilson Park tennis and basketball courts to see the result of this cooperation. These steps were built by a local company, Walling Systems, for the local community … it doesn’t get much more satisfying than that.
The irrigation work at Wilson Park that has allowed us to lay cool, friendly green grass for families to enjoy is another great addition to this reserve. There’s more to come here too, after the courts are finished, with a skate park next on the agenda at the town end of the reserve.
And we shouldn’t forget the work our parks and gardens crews do to maintain these reserves. Ada Ryan Gardens was in absolutely fantastic condition for the recent uneARTh Festival, a fact not lost on many locals and visitors.
We’re also seeing how positively locals and many people outside of Whyalla are commenting on our other big project … the new jetty. Congratulations once again to our infrastructure department which has taken on building this jetty as the project managers.
This has been done to ensure as much local labour and materials supply is kept in Whyalla. It may have added a little bit of time to the process but it effectively means we are keeping millions of dollars in our community and creating a structure that is going to be the envy of many throughout the state and country.
This is what councils should do are we are proud to be one of the leading councils in doing exactly that … working hard for the community, making our city great and making a positive difference to our residents’ lives.
PICTURES: (top to bottom) The Ada Ryan Gardens tennis and basketball lights are turned on. The light towers at Wilson Park being prepared and then erected. The steps at Wilson Park.