Kings Park still in lockdown

There are 18 user groups in the park, all of which will be meeting on Tuesday, November 8, to discuss the next moves for the park clean-up.

Lead volunteer Ken Hall said while the park’s closure was difficult, it was for the public's health.

“A lot of the damage, they haven’t really assessed it yet. There is going to be a lot of electrical damage, all of the switchboards for these major events like expo and they, they all went under, they haven’t been tested yet,” Mr Hall said.

“We’re waiting for guidance. We don’t 100 per cent know what is going to happen because they have to disinfect and pull lighting out. There is a lot of cupboards and sinks, all those buildings have some canteen of sorts. It’s all got to come out.”

Council’s insurance policy will cover the buildings and fixtures in the park, but the contents of the buildings belonging to the clubs are mostly uninsured.

Mr Hall believes the most significant damage in terms of cost would be to the exhibition centre, but outside of the monetary aspect, the loss of records by clubs is devastating.

“One of the biggest impacts … is the Seymour agriculture show, an over 100-year-old show. All of their old records for 100 years ago got impacted in the flood, they lost a lot,” he said.

The only building in the park which has not been heavily impacted is the football clubrooms.

There is plenty of work still to go, with drainage of water in the park happening slowly due to the high level of the river and Deep Creek at the back of the park.

“I can’t see it being before Christmas,” Mr Hall said.

With summer sports such as Little Athletics and cricket impacted, groups are beginning to look for alternate arrangements.