Picturesque Wallaby Hill in Robertson, NSW.
© Wallaby Hill
Wallaby Hill welcomes a new property addition — and Australia’s first CCI4*-L since lockdown!
By Equestrian Life
Thanks to Covid-19 lockdowns and event cancellations, 2020 has certainly been a tough year for equestrian event venues — and it has been no different for the team at Wallaby Hill. The picturesque property in the Southern Highlands of NSW had to cancel their Equestrian Extravaganza in April, however like many they have made good use of some quiet time over winter.
Alex Townsend, owner and manager of Wallaby Hill, explains that the team has been hard at work preparing for the resumption of events — including the construction of a brand new shed to house their ever-expanding collection of competition equipment!
“We wanted to build a shed at the back of the property, because we have a lot of competition equipment that needs to be stored between events. Where the equipment used to be stored was very central in the middle of the property, and that made it difficult to get everything out to where it needed to be quickly — especially to the cross-country course,” explains Alex.
An aerial photo of Wallaby Hill, with the position of the new equipment shed at the back of the property marked in red.
© Wallaby Hill
The 20m x 15m shed sits at the back of the property adjacent to the cross-country paddock, and now provides a place to store everything from dressage arena setups, to cross country fence markers and decorations.
“We went with ABC Sheds, because our builder, who built most of Wallaby Hill, said that they did a really smart job and did everything very correctly,” says Alex.
Alex explains that the building process was smooth, however the planning permit did take a while: “The poor team at ABC Sheds; to get planning through the council was an unbelievably long process and they were very patient waiting for us. The property sits on the edge of two national parks, and the shed sits right at the back of the property adjacent to one of them. The council was very concerned about what our neighbours would think… even though there are none! It took about a year to get the planning approved!”
It’s been worth the wait. The beautiful two-tone green shed, which features three large roller doors for easy access of equipment trailers, blends effortlessly into the bush backdrop and certainly does nothing to harm the aesthetics of the property. Word has it that there have been no complaints from the neighbouring kangaroos.
The new event equipment shed at Wallaby Hill, aka the ‘Roberston Rural Fire Station Shed’.
© Wallaby Hill/ABC Sheds
Alex speaks highly of the ABC Sheds team, who were very patient and efficient throughout the process. “They did a great job. Basically the planning took forever, but once we had that, ABC Sheds came in and built it very quickly. We now refer to it as the ‘Roberston Rural Fire Station Shed!’” she laughs, referring to the fact that it does look a little like the sheds often used by the local NSW Rural Fire Service branches.
Alex explains that Wallaby Hill also has a second permit organised for an additional shed to sit alongside it, should their expanding collection of equipment require further space. Of course, ABC Sheds are at the top of the list to build that as well.
Competition returns to Wallaby Hill
Wallaby Hill looks forward to welcoming competitors back from 3-6 December for their International 3-Day Event, which promises to be a thrilling end to the year for eventers.
Clarke Johnstone and Balmoral Sensation over the first obstacle on the Wallaby Hill cross country course. The event venue is looking forward to running its International 3-Day Event in December.
© Stephen Mowbray / Wallaby Hill
The competition includes a CCN1*-L and CCN1*-L Junior, CCI2*-L, CCI3*-S, CCI3*-L, CCI4*-S and CCI4*L. It will be the first long-format four-star in Australia since Covid-19 lockdowns, and so competitors and eventing enthusiasts alike will no doubt be excited to see how this class in particular plays out — especially in light of getting scores on the board for Olympic selection next year!
“Entries are good,” says Alex. “Normally at this stage people haven’t quite entered, especially for the three and four star classes, as riders don’t want to enter early and jinx themselves! However, we already have around 60 entries across the classes and some from South Australia and even Victoria, since borders are due to open 23 November, and we already have some in the four-star!”
Equestrian Life looks forward to following this key competition on the Australian eventing calendar, and no doubt the team at Wallaby Hill are looking forward to a little less leg-work when setting up for the event thanks to the strategic placement of their new equipment shed!
Click here to download the free ‘Equestrian Building Solutions’ brochure!
This article was written in conjunction with ABC Sheds.
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