ALL Council parks and sporting grounds are covered by laws that make the RECOVERY of finds illegal.
You can swing a detector but the moment you start disturbing the soil and grass your breaking laws.
Most but NOT all sporting/relaxation activities are approved. But more and more councils and members of the public are getting fed up with the attitude of some AND Plugs and rubbish left behind.
We have all skirted these laws at times, but without care, and as more councils have to deal with it; The sooner they will come down hard on people with Detectors and start banning it outright.
While some will say footballers make the grounds a mess. The club etc has the Insurance to cover any personal injury and have a responsibility to manage the grounds etc.
Deep and messy Plugs etc is just WRONG... And one of the local crick grounds near me, had PLUGS dug in their grass wicket... That is NON Australian....
If you research and look at any Council By Laws and reference the Higher regs to Parks and reserves etc. They all have the same intent - it is a prohibited activity to interfere with any turf, sand, clay, soil or other material.
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Metal Detecting on park areas - As provided to me by a number of councils across SE Qld.
Whilst no specific provision is contained within our local laws, under Local Law No 9. Parks & Reserves (2008) Part 3 section 13: it is a prohibited activity to interfere with any turf, sand, clay, soil or other material. This stems from the objectives that this local law aims to protect the environment and facilities of parks and reserves and to preserve their amenity.
Digging around a park also comes with the added risk of coming in contact with underground services (e.g. irrigation lines, water services, electrical cables). When the City embarks on its own excavation activities, it has the advantage of survey plans and other services such as dial before you dig to make itself aware of any potential underground services.
Whilst Metal Detecting RECOVERY, may generally involve shallow and small excavation (and constitutes interfering with turf, sand) and underground services are often relatively deeper, it is known some service installations to be quite shallow (e.g. wiring to irrigation solenoids and water lines). Regulated activities and events are conditioned to minimise potential impacts from ground penetrations and recovering costs should damage occur.