New design to fix leaking roof at Werribee's Eagle Stadium

Wyndham City Council is to work on a new design to permanently fix the leaking roof at Werribee's Eagle Stadium.

As reported by Wyndham’s Star Weekly, the $47 million stadium has been plagued by a leaking roof since its opening in 2015, forcing the cancellation of basketball and netball games on days of heavy rainfall.

Advising that designs for the permanent roof works would be finalised by the end of the year, Wyndham City Council Operations Director, Stephen Thorpe explained “we’ll release a tender for the works in early 2021.

“We’ve planned for up to $7 million to complete the permanent works in our budget, however this will not be known until the tender process is completed.”

Noting reported further leaks over the weekend of 5th and 6th December which caused some inconvenience, Thorpe noted “unfortunately, leaks will continue to happen from time to time until a permanent fix is in place.

“We know how important these works are to provide an uninterrupted experience for stadium visitors and will have a contractor on-site to start the works as soon as the tender process is complete.”

The Council’s website says that some of the sources of Eagle Stadium’s roof issues include leaking from skylights, box gutters and roof panels.

The website also says that while design work is underway on a permanent solution, interim measures will be implemented.

Some areas of the roof will be ‘taped’ to prevent leaks, with a trial of the taping method to run between 2nd and 20th March assess its effectiveness.

Thorpe added “Council appreciates the frustrations of the community/users of the facility and that’s why we have been looking at the best ways to minimise disruptions in the short term, while taking the necessary steps to resolve the issue permanently.

“Our priority is to ensure the roof stops leaking permanently, and once the issue is resolved we will then consider steps to recoup costs.”

In June, former Wyndham Mayor Councillor Josh Gilligan, said the Council would pursue the parties responsible for the leaking roof.

As reported by the Star Weekly, he stated “we will recoup the cost, of what we can, to ratepayers.”

For more information go to www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/venues/eagle-stadium

Images courtesy of the City of Wyndham.