Lights bring bright future to local sport

Broome sport is set to be taken out of the dark ages and brought into the light, with the completion of a $550,000 upgrade to the Haynes Oval facility.

The Shire of Broome land is acknowledged as the home of local football, while a host of other clubs have used the facilities for training purposes over the years.

Last week, an 80-tonne crane erected new lighting for the oval, after the funding was allocated for the project from the Shire and the Department of Sport and Recreation.

The Shire was awarded $275,000 from DSR to undertake the initiative, with the local council matching the State Government's contribution.

The lighting is now at a training standard of 50 lux.

Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre manager Casey Zepnick said the upgrade was long overdue and would benefit local football clubs and other sports that use Haynes Oval.

"It is mostly football clubs and ultimate Frisbee that use Haynes Oval at night, but with the higher capacity lights there is an opportunity for other clubs to use it as well," he said.

"We would like to thank the Department of Sport and Recreation for their assistance."

DSR's acting regional manager for the Kimberley, Brendan Cullinan, said the project was great news for the Broome community as a whole.

"The department, via the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund, is proud to be able to support the project," he said.

"It is a way of encouraging further participation in sport and recreation, which brings benefits to the Broome community as a result."

Mr Zepnick also confirmed that the lights had the capacity to be upgraded to 150 lux in future years if further funding became available.

The completion of the work comes after the department last month granted the Shire of Broome $1.25 million for the upgrading of the BRAC swimming pool.