By Shelby Brooks
In what should be one of the busiest times of the year for the Pakenham Pony Club, Huxtable Road Horse Riding Reserve is locked and empty due to unsafe riding conditions.
Cardinia Shire Council took over the upkeep of the grounds at the beginning of 2021 under a new model for maintaining reserves across the shire.
But club secretary Alison McHenry said she was at breaking point and felt they club had been left in the lurch by the council.
“We’ve operated for 60 years down there and have kept the grounds in pristine condition,” she said.
“But right now it’s atrocious.”
Long grass, potholes, fallen tree branches and weeds have all culminated in the Pony Club deeming the grounds unsafe for use over the school holidays.
Ms McHenry said usually on school holidays the grounds would be packed with children and horse floats.
“We’re losing memberships because we’ve had to say no one can use the grounds because it’s unsafe,” she said.
The new model of maintaining community assets introduced by the council in 2021 means full responsibility for all reserve surrounds maintenance must be conducted by council approved contractors.
“This time of the year we were mowing all the time,” Ms McHenry said.
“But we’re not allowed to mow or even pick up the branches.”
Although the council had mowed parts of the grounds in November, Ms McHenry said the grass was still too long to allow children to ride across it.
“I know it’s being pedantic but all the grass left behind after the mowing makes it slippery, it needs to be mulched. It’s dangerous to ride on,” she said.
The remainder of the grounds, including the club’s cross country course was at least knee high when the Gazette visited on 20 December.
Ms McHenry said the club had cancelled the annual Pakenham Produce and Saddlery Horse Trials set for February 2022 because the cross country course was in such bad shape.
“It’s going to take six months of work to get the ground back in a condition we can hold a competition but in six months it’s winter,” she said.
“It’s pretty upsetting.
“This was the first time the event had to be cancelled in 26 years due to the ground condition.”
Cardinia Shire Council Operations Manager, Ben Wood said mowers had to wait for land to dry out before works were completed otherwise the larger mowers get bogged.
“Unusually boggy ground coupled with increased grass growth has had a knock-on effect on our mowing schedule,” he said.
“Maintenance crews last visited Huxtable Reserve on 22 November and are scheduled to visit again on 22 December.
“We acknowledge the committee’s frustration and thank them for their patience as we work hard across the shire to maintain our parks and reserves.“
