PUBLIC & OPEN SPACES 29
The benefits :
High-quality and consistent surface ( even ball roll / bounce ).
• Generally requires no water . An effective response to reduction in availability of potable water due to drought and climate change .
• Relatively low maintenance requirements ( in comparison with the labour-intensive natural turf regimes – which also often require professional turf maintenance skills and large machinery ).
• More tolerant of adverse weather conditions .
• Can be programmed intensively both in terms of time bandwidth ( day and night ), as well as subdividing field space and increasing participation .
• Has the potential to generate significant rental income , given intensive programming .
• Potential for multi-use .
• Can reduce the impact that sport has on a player ’ s joints and the body generally due to the placement of shock pads and rubber granular infill .
• Cleaner to play on ( ie . no mud ).
• Can be used to collect water to aid local irrigation .
• Costs marginally more than natural turf in the long-term , yet allows up to three to four times more hours of use .
• Increases predictability of sports fixtures and events .
And negatives : High initial capital cost .
• Sometimes requires high fencing to protect the facility
• Costly to repair if damaged .
• Heat retention and reflection can be an issue in certain circumstances .
• Some facilities are more likely to be single use .
• Requires upgrade or replacement every eightfifteen years .
• The variability of performance across the range of high value to low value surfaces , and the difficulty for new adopters to differentiate .
Note : A UK survey ( Cranfield Survey2 , 2008 ) looking at annual average maintenance costs ( in the UK ) suggests expenditure per hour averaging out at : artificial grass - $ 7 AUD per hour of use , natural turf - $ 70 AUD per hour of use .
Each sport that utilises artificial grass has its own playing surface requirements , generally tightly defined by the sport ’ s governing body . If an artificial grass sporting area is to be used for more than one sport ( which may be necessary to ensure the financial viability of a facility or its full use ), then compromises may be necessary to the choice of the most appropriate surface system and the performance .
Short , medium and long-pile , filled , dressed and unfilled systems are each suitable for a variety of sports , but currently no one carpet system is suitable for all sports .
A link to the full paper is available here ; http :// sport . vic . gov . au / find-sport-facilities / community-facilities / artificial-grass-for-sport-guide
GOVLINK » ISSUE 1 2017