There’s a very good reason why the Byron Shire’s sports fields, along with most others in our region, are closed at the moment – and it’s a scientific one. It’s so wet that normal evaporation, assisted by sun and wind, can’t keep up.
“When rain falls so often that there’s not enough time for the natural process of evaporation to occur, and the water table is fully charged, you end up with some super soggy conditions on the ground,” Council’s Open Space Technical Officer, Andy Erskine said.
“When this happens, and as any groundskeeper will tell you, it’s really important to keep people and machinery like mowers off the sports fields.
If you put anything heavy onto the soggy surface, the pressure squeezes trapped oxygen out of the soil, triggering an anaerobic process,” Mr Erskine said.
“The anaerobic process creates fungus diseases that affect the turf, and of most concern, can cause the turf to compact when it finally dries out resulting in poor turf growth and potential sports injuries,” he said.
“So we understand that people get annoyed by the sports field closures and the long grass, but please bear with us while we do our best to ensure great turf and safe playing conditions for the future,” Mr Erskine said.
