2016-12-06 Services and Organisation Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   6 DECEMBER 2016




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SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                            6 DECEMBER 2016

              AUSTRALIAN SPORTS TURF CONSULTANTS                                 [www.ASTCs.com.au] s.com.au
              Executive Summary
              1. Australian Sports Turf Consultants (ASTC), a Brisbane based turf consultancy company, was
                 engaged by Noosa Council to undertake an independent agronomic assessment of your sports
                 field. The purpose of the assessment was to identify the current condition of your field to help
                 Council and your club maintain and improve the playing surface for its end users.
             2. A detailed sports facility audit was conducted by ASTC on 14 June 2016 at Girraween Sports
                 Complex — Main Soccer Field located at Girraween Court, Sunshine Beach QLD 4567.
                 Testing was conducted at Four (4) Test Locations across the playing surface using the Test
                 Methods     listed   in   Table     2    and    described    in   greater   detail    at
                 http://astcs.com.au/performancetestingtools
             3. Turf quality across the field was rated just below acceptable as observed during the audit. The
                 field has high wear and is low in nutrition.
             4.  Turfcover at the time of inspection was rated as acceptable. The desirable turf species present
                 was green couch (Cynodon dactylon) with 85% cover across the field. Only a very small
                 amount of weed species were present (0.2%), whereas the quantity of bare ground seen within
                 the test locations reached 15%.
             5. A mean surface hardness level of 87 Gmax, and a peak reading of 120 Gmax was identified
                 across the field. The surface hardness is within the high normal range for a sports ficld.
             6. Mowing height (height of cut) was on average 20 mm across the field. Green couch is
                 routinely mown at 20 mm to 40 mm for use on sports turf surfaces and therefore you are
                 within the desired range. Wear or damage to the turf canopy also provided lower readings.
             7.  Thatch, which is dead plant material, measured 33 mm within the rootzone. Less than 20 mm
                 is recommended. Please refer to the turf maintenance program included in this document for
                 further information regarding remedial control options available.
             8. Minor surface undulations exist across the field. The mean reading was 11 mm while the
                 highest reading, using a 3 metre straight edge, was only 23 mm. Recommendations for a
                 community sports field is to be less than 30 mm. Annual topdressing using appropriate sand
                 can be undertaken to help improve surface evenness and this will also help to combat thatch.
                 Topdressing is recommended after initial dethatching work is conducted.
             9.  Excess water is surrounding some sprinkler heads located within the field. It is recommended
                 that an independent irrigation audit be undertaken to make sure there are no leaks and that all
                 sprinklers are at the desired height and they are operating correctly; co-efficiency of
                 uniformity (CU) should be at least 87 %.
                 The infiltration rate for this field is high i.c. between 420 and 1536 mm/hr. It is unknown why
                 drainage lines were installed across half the field (at a depth of 190 mm) given this drainage
                 rate. A guideline for a community sports field is to target 50 mm/hr; so you are significantly
                 exceeding this target. Your watering program is to be closely monitored and it is
                 recommended that you develop or have developed a water irrigation plan based on your
                 operational system.
              10. Soil nutritional testing, following representative sampling to a depth of 100 mm across the
                 field, the soil showed that the pH and calcium levels are low. The soil pH needs to be raised
                 which will allow greater success and uptake of major nutrients. This can be done by applying
                 agricultural lime with a Calcium level of 35 to 40% at a minimum of | tonne per ha (or 100g
                 per m2). The lime should be applied evenly across the surface and watered into the rootzone.

              Reference #14R160614                                                      lof17|Page

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