Mildura Rural City Council has released revised timelines for replacement of the Mildura Sporting Precinct indoor court halls.
The indoor court hall flooring is being replaced due to leaks from a water bubbler and air-conditioning ducting, which damaged three courts across both court halls.
The manufacturer/installer in both instances quickly repaired the leaks, however resulting moisture unfortunately damaged the flooring, which now needs to be replaced. This will be completed at no cost to Council as it will be covered by insurance.
Work was originally planned to start this Monday, 7 April, but has now been postponed due to shipping delays transporting the flooring material from the United Kingdom and Europe.
Rather than set a new date for the start of work now, replacement of the flooring will commence once we have confirmation of when the materials will arrive, in consultation with user groups. This will ensure we're able to keep the courts open as long as possible and minimise disruption to users.
Council's General Manager Infrastructure and Assets Daryl Morgan said while postponing the start of work was regrettable, the revised timelines were out of Council's control due to international shipping delays.
"We obviously want to have this work completed as soon as possible, however due to no fault of Council's, or the expert contractor undertaking the work, we're at the whim of international shipping delays," Mr Morgan said.
"To minimise the indoor court hall closure period we've pushed back the start date until we have some certainty around when the materials will arrive."
Council's General Manager Healthy Communities Mark Jenkins said all indoor user groups had been updated on the new timelines.
"I'd first of all like to thank all the user groups throughout this process for their understanding and flexibility," Mr Jenkins said.
"They've all been great to work with since we initially announced the indoor court hall closure back in January.
"Working with representatives from Chaffey Secondary College, St Joseph's College and Trinity College, who have all be incredibly accommodating, we were able to ensure all indoor sporting user groups could continue their winter seasons uninterrupted, despite needing to relocate to different venues.
"Fortunately, again thanks to the cooperation between the schools and all user groups, we've been able to extend these arrangements in line with the new timelines."
Mr Morgan explained the repair period had also been extended by several weeks to ensure any unexpected rectification work once the flooring has been removed can be performed.
All user groups have been fully briefed on the updated timelines.
