Warringah Council team prepares Brookvale Oval for 2016 NRL season

Warringah Council staff are busy getting the Brookvale Oval field ready for the new NRL season having returfed approximately 80% of the playing surface at a cost of $48,000.

With the field to be top-dressed at a cost of $5,000 in the coming weeks, the famous ground’s playing surface will be closed until 1st February while staff provide regular maintenance to assist the new turf to establish and be ready for the tough season ahead.

Warringah Council face a dilemma that the indebted Sea Eagles are yet to sign a licence for the 2016 NRL season, asking that their rent be reduced from $375,000 to $220,000 a year.

The Council highlights that it costs around $600,000 to maintain the ground and stadium to NRL standards per year, not including depreciation or capital works.

A Council Spokesperson said Council is doing everything possible to see the Sea Eagles play at their spiritual home. This includes exhibiting a proposed booking fee that will allow the Sea Eagles to book for specific matches, rather than the usual full nine months, to ensure they can always play at Brookvale even if negotiations on a lease are not fruitful.

The spokesman explained “we’re excited to see the Sea Eagles return to Brookie in 2016 and we’re doing everything we can to make that happen while also ensuring the community is fairly compensated for the use of this public park.

“The Warringah community wants the Sea Eagles to pay a fair price for exclusive use of Brookvale Oval for nine months of the year.

“Brookvale Oval is unique in that it’s a public park with ageing infrastructure that will become more expensive to maintain.”

Under the NSW Government plan to take the southern half of Warringah and merge it with Mosman and Manly Councils, Brookvale Oval and Park will be run by a new organisation.

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