The Rabbitohs will have exclusive use of the $25 million
redevelopment for just 20 hours training a week, mainly on weekdays, in return
for an annual rent of $50,000.
Amateur teams including the Redfern All Blacks, an
Aboriginal side, will also enjoy access to the new, open-plan oval, which gives
the public largely unrestricted entry.
Under the terms of a lease that will go before the council
tomorrow, Souths will have unlimited, exclusive control of designated club
areas within the complex, including the change rooms, gym, bathrooms, offices
and a physiotherapy room.
But they will have to accept increased public access
elsewhere.
Word of Souths’ new arrangements came as the Manly Sea
Eagles moved a step closer to upgraded facilities in Brookvale, at the
silvertail end of town, following a positive meeting with Premier Morris Iemma
last week.
Manly will now take a formal proposal for a $5 million
upgrade to its ageing main grandstand to the Government for consideration in
its mid-year budget review.
The club is also hopeful of securing$10 million in federal
funding for an entirely new grandstand during the upcoming election campaign.
Manly chief executive Grant Mayer said the team’s strong
showing this year had tipped the balance in its long-running campaign for
funding.
“Manly’s a hot ticket now, and there’s a lot of
mileage for everybody in a winning team,” Mr Mayer told The Sunday Telegraph.
Souths, meanwhile, have been training in basic conditions
at Erskineville Oval, leased from the City of Sydney since the Redfern work began last
year.
For its return to Redfern next year, the club had demanded
exclusivity provisions similar to those of its old lease, under which the oval
was fenced off with barbed wire and largely inaccessible.
But Lord Mayor Clover Moore
and council planners were insistent the facility should remain available for
school sports days,local competitions and public use.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22424949-5006066,00.html