Liberal National Party candidate for Bowman, Henry Pike, has committed to invest in new lighting for the home of Redlands Cricket, Peter Burge Oval at Wellington Point.
Mr Pike said that a re-elected Federal LNP Government will provide $750,000 to Redlands Cricket to install new Premier Cricket standard lighting at the oval to enable night-time men’s and women’s games to be played.
“Peter Burge Oval has been the starting point of the careers of local champions such as Marnus Labuschange, Jimmy Pierson and Sam Heazlett,” Mr Pike said.
“It’s one of the best grounds in Queensland, but I want to see it taken to the next level both as a destination for high level competition and as the heart of our local cricketing community.”
Cricket Australia had put forward the Redlands lighting project in their national priority list as the single biggest opportunity to grow women’s participation in Queensland.
“The delivery of field lighting will enable girls and women’s cricket to play mid-week, which means more Redlanders enjoying the opportunity to play sport and get active,” Mr Pike said.
“This investment will not only significantly improve participation opportunities but will enable the Premier Cricket T20 competition to be held at night.”
“There will be further opportunity for funding support for other levels of government and Cricket Australia, but this will be a great start for an exciting project.”
Redlands Cricket has identified the project as a key strategic initiative to support development of future representative players and support the Brisbane Heat and international T20 cricket being played at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
The commitment brings the LNP’s planned investment in Redland sporting and community clubs to $2.59 million.