A group of 14 Millicent residents is lobbying Wattle Range Council to seal the roadway around the main football and cricket oval at McLaughlin Park.

Their houses are on nearby Plunkett Terrace and they are asking for council to allocate funds in the upcoming 2021/22 budget. They signed a petition which was tabled at the April monthly council meeting in Millicent. “The oval is used nearly every day,” stated the residents.

“The road around it causes a huge amount of dust to the houses on Plunkett Terrace. “If the road was to be bituminised which we believe has been talked about then the dust issue would be eliminated.”

McLaughlin Park Sports Incorporated chairman Craig Tunkin told The SE Voice that his committee representing park users has been aware of the impact the park has on surrounding residents. “We have had a long term strategy to reduce those impacts,” Mr Tunkin said.

“We have removed the gum and pine trees that ran the perimeter of the fence line and replaced them with more friendly varieties. “The Plunkett Terrace gate adjacent the basketball stadium has been closed for two years and has successfully reduced the traffic flow.

“This has resulted in making Plunkett Terrace much safer and a lot of positive feedback from the residents. “The dust is an issue for the residents adjacent the park and hopefully we can rectify the issue by bituminising the roads within the park.

“The internal roads at the park are some of the busiest in the town at times.” The council meeting decided to receive and note the contents of the petition.

Meanwhile, council has already held five workshops to discuss the 2020/21 budget as well as a undertaken a district inspection aboard a mini-bus.

The draft budget is expected to be endorsed and then released for public comment in the coming weeks.