The use of Loerie Park has become a contentious issue between sport clubs and the municipality ever since the municipality upgraded the field to accommodate the Danish international soccer team who used it as their practice ground during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Heyns explained that the municipality had promised to reinstate the Loerie Park pitch after the Soccer World Cup, but this has not happened. Not only have cricketers struggled to regain the use of the park, but several other sporting bodies as well.
In February, Charl Botha, director of Community Services at Knysna Municipality, said that the Loerie Park pitch was "diseased" and the then municipal manager, Johnny Douglas added that the pitch was in a distressed state due to extreme heat and "unforeseen problems with the irrigation system".
Municipal manager, Lauren Waring explained, "The grounds were damaged by the games held during the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival [2012]." According to Waring, Loerie Park was only to be closed for six months. She said that the municipality had notified all parties concerned about the closure to allow the pitch to recover.
"We were contacted by the organisers of the night league who were in agreement with our decision to allow the ground to recover."
However, a furious Heyns said that he was the organiser of the night league and "no one contacted me. I even emailed the sports desk three months ago as well as called! So, you can tell whoever that they are giving wrong information."
To this Waring replied, "Our Department Sport and Recreation had discussed the matter with Peter [Heyns]. Allegations that the night league were not contacted are untrue."
An incensed Heyns reiterated, "I am Peter. Please ask who spoke to me and when?" He again said that he had received no replies to any of his emails nor to his telephone calls after he had heard rumours of the night league being suspended. "It is clear to me that the council either does not have a clue what is going on in its correspondence or that they deliberately do not want cricket to be part of Knysna anymore."
According to Heyns nobody on the cricket committee, of which he is the vice-chairman, was contacted by the Knysna Municipality.
Waring said that the municipality had budgeted for upgrades to the Hornlee pitch and South Western District Cricket had made funds available for the upgrade. "We have assisted the local cricket fraternity in securing alternative venues and will continue to do so," she concluded.
After much correspondence to and fro, Heyns confirmed that the municipality had offered the Loerie Park B-field as an alternative venue for the Knysna Night League Cricket. "This is not first prize but we will accept it," he said.
Many of the cricketers feel that the B-field at Loerie Park is not ideal, "Should any batsman hit a six the ball is lost forever in the marsh," explained a frustrated cricketer.
In the meantime, the iconic Loerie Park venue, on which the previous council spent R12-million, stands dormant and looks to becoming an expensive white elephant, as so many other soccer stadiums that were built for the FIFA World Cup.
Loerie Park's greens have been giving problems ever since the R12-million upgrade for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
