You’ve heard of upcycled furniture, now it’s upcycled synthetic turf with the original surface at Tamworth Regional Hockey Complex rolled out for reuse at local schools and sporting associations.
“Distributing the rolls of original turf within the community is an excellent way to be sustainable with a potential waste product,” said Tamworth Regional Council Projects Engineer, Claire Turnor.
“The community will be able to benefit greatly from the continued use of the synthetic surface and stop it from ending up as landfill.”
Following an expressions of interest process, about 12,000m2 - or 200 tonne - worth an estimated $795,000 is now being used to:
- Surface children’s play areas that were previously dirt;
- Provide a hard wearing surface for recreational areas with high foot traffic;
- Make green space for the comfort and wellbeing of people using facilities where grass couldn’t be grown due to a lack of water;
- Create a soft fall surface for sporting groups;
- Establish a warmup surface for the Tamworth Hockey Association, and
- Assist in erosion and weed control.
One of the recipients of the used synthetic turf is Tamworth Mountain Bike Park where it is being used to control erosion, prevent weed growth and as a buffer it a rider falls off. It’s also being used as
a barrier between bare dirt and the children’s see-saws
“We intend to use the remaining rolls on the new entrance meeting up with the Council cycleway currently being constructed,” Jeff Benson of Tamworth Mountain Bikers said. “The matting will help to
clearly define the path to enter into our park and will keep weeds at bay.”
Tamworth Public School is using 40 rolls, enough to cover 2000m2, in its kindergarten playground area and the Manilla SkySailors Club also sought a substantial amount for its paragliding site.
Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said the upcycling of the turf was a fantastic initiative that would benefit sport and active recreation throughout the local area.
“It’s inspiring to see the benefits of the hockey centre upgrade being shared,” he said.
The synthetic turf is no longer needed due to the upgrade at the Hockey Complex as part of stage 2 development of the Northern Inland Centre of Sporting Excellence.
The $9.636 million project is funded by a $7.2m NSW Government grant under the Regional Sports Infrastructure Fund, Council contributions of $1.636m, and $800,000 from the Tamworth Hockey Association.