The head of Aurora’s minor baseball association plans to look to Newmarket or Richmond Hill for playing space.

“If a large diamond is not built by 2009, we have no choice but to seek diamond time outside of Aurora,” said Dave Giroux, president of the Aurora Minor Ball Association, saying the town has “a severe shortage” of diamonds.

“The facilities need to be here now, not three years from now.”

Nine or 10 teams are playing on one diamond, Mr. Giroux said.

“It is only getting worse,” he said. “There is no recovery time, no practice time for the kids”.

He made a speech to council last month, a week before the budget was passed, and everyone seemed to support his request for a new diamond, he said, adding he was told by leisure services director Allan Downey a full-sized ball field was the “No. 1 item” on the department’s needs list.

But a week later, it was off the agenda, Mr. Giroux said in a phone interview this week.

“It is disheartening.”

Mr. Downey could not be reached yesterday for comment.

The lack of funding for baseball diamonds is one reason Councillor Evelyn Buck voted against the budget, which was not what staff had recommended, she said.

For example, the recreation department’s budget included $2 million for baseball facilities and the director of leisure services had recommended the purchase of land for this purpose, she said.

But in the town’s final budget, that item was removed, Ms Buck said, adding a new baseball facility is three years overdue.

“The facilities, the need and money was there,” she said, adding an adult women’s league may not be able to play this year because of the diamond shortage.

“We have more and more people coming to live in Aurora and we are not keeping up,” she said.

However, the town already has land for a baseball diamond north of the arena at Wellington and Leslie streets, Councillor Evelina MacEachern said.

“We have land. We do not need $2 million to put a diamond on it,” she said.

The budget did include $40,000 to be used for designing recreational uses for the land, Ms MacEachern said, adding the plan will be finished in September and will include a baseball diamond.

The town was supposed to do a master recreation plan review last term to look at the needs and wants in the town, Mayor Phyllis Morris said. But this did not happen, so a broad overview is being done.

Aurora council has asked staff to contract out a recreation review, she added.

But a baseball diamond is a big block of land, Mr. Giroux said, adding it could be built now and the town could decide later how to use the rest of the land.

The town’s ball organizations “know they are high on the priority list,” Mrs. Morris said, adding other recreation needs have to be considered as well.

So, what’s in the future for Aurora’s minor baseball association?

Newmarket may be able to help solve Aurora’s problem this year, but is unlikely to be able to help in the 2009 season, Mr. Giroux said, adding Aurora teams may have to go to Richmond Hill.

“I do not have any desire to take my program south,” he said. “Why would (anyone) register in Aurora if their team is playing in Richmond Hill?”

“Why are people paying taxes in Aurora and having to seek someone else’s diamonds?”