League day hits obstacle

ORGANISERS and participants of an annual sporting event could be financially disadvantaged after a date clash had them scrambling to find another venue.

Gordonvale Indigenous Rugby League Carnival chairman Jason Joinbee said the event had been booked at Alley Park before he got a call from Cairns Regional Council telling him it had to change.

“It was brought to my attention the dates clashed with the Gordonvale races,” he said.

“We are looking at keeping the same date and changing the venue. If we push it back it won’t be for another month and then it’s getting too hot for the referees in November. It’s very frustrating.”

But the council’s community sport and cultural services general manager Linda Kirchner said the carnival made an application for a tentative booking for Alley Park in January but at the time, officers were not aware the park would not be available.

“It has since come to our attention that the dates were in conflict with a scheduled race meeting,” she said. “We agree this was an oversight on the council’s part and apologise for not having the correct information available at the time.

“As the booking for the rugby league carnival had not yet been completed by the organisers, we notified them that the dates originally requested were not available and invited them to amend their application. We are happy to work with them to determine a suitable alternative.”

Mr Joinbee said he was hoping to keep the same date and host the event at Jones Park in Westcourt.

“We’ve got teams from up from around Torres Strait who have already started booking flights,” he said.