CHELSEA Soccer Club is worried that the floodlights at its home ground are posing a safety risk after a light burst and left broken glass on the pitch.
The soccer club plays out of Edithvale Recreation Reserve, which is maintained by Kingston Council. Last month a floodlight bulb at the ground exploded, sending broken glass down onto the turf below.
The club has called on council to take action to make the lights safer. Chelsea Soccer Club secretary Hannah Walder said “since the installation of these lights, they started becoming faulty within a short period of time and have continually caused us issues with broken bulbs and faulty wiring.”
“The club have reported each and every issue to [council] and despite our efforts, the council have adopted a patch and mend approach rather than properly listen to our concerns about the reliability and safety of these lights,” she said. “I expect my children to be able to attend community sports in a safe environment, on council property. This incident surely must be enough to demonstrate just how unsafe these lights are and immediate action must be taken to effectively make these lights safe – not just replacing the bulb.”
Kingston Council says that it is investigating the safety of the lights. Council’s general manager infrastructure and open space Samantha Krull said “after a lighting fault occurred on Thursday evening and it was reported to council, our maintenance team addressed the issue first thing on Friday morning, cleaned up the glass from the field, and an electrical contractor investigated the cause.”
“The contractor found it was a glass diffuser that broke within the light fitting. The light was made safe, with the diffuser left off in the interim, and all lights are now working again. Council is continuing to investigate the current setup of the lights to ensure no further faults occur,” she said.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 1 June 2022