The Murrumbateman development project to begin after long delays

However, a $550,000 investment by the Yass Valley Council has confirmed that the Pony Club headquarters are to be relocated to the paddock next to their current location.

This announcement was initially met with resistance from the Pony Club, as there was already an $80,000 sand arena and horse-yards at the oval. 

However, the club’s representative for the development Rob McLachlan confirmed that the friction was only temporary, and that the Council had worked carefully to ensure that the transition ran as smoothly as possible. 

“The initial discussion that Council had had is that they were keen to move the facilities north, but initially the budget allowance wasn’t able to provide the facilities it [the Pony Club] needed. 

“Since then, Council’s revisited that and directed more money toward it … so that’s a really good outcome.” 

McLachlan believes that everyone involved in the development is “really excited” to see the end result. 

The project is expected to begin in two to three weeks’ time, according to Council’s Business Services Manager Tony Stevens, and has been split into two parts. The first is to develop new dwellings for the horses, who are currently stationed on the oval. 

Once the horses are relocated to the new paddock – which is expected to house three new arenas for the Pony Club – then development will begin on relaying the surface of the oval, which has been churned by the horses and is currently unsuitable for sporting events. 

The development was originally slated to begin in March this year, after having been announced in early 2016, but was delayed due to the many different groups with vested interests in the project. 

Part two will be slightly more complicated, according to Stevens, due to the many sporting clubs who wish to have a say in the oval’s new surface. 

“Athletics will need different requirements for track, cricket will need this [a wicket], depending on we get a ball game and what they want,” Stevens said. 

Construction on part one is planned to finish in time for Field Day, but part two will not begin until November at the earliest.