Why grand plan to create a central sporting hub at Kensington Gardens Reserve has been dumped — again
LESS than a year after a plan to create a big central sporting hub for cricket, rugby, tennis and bowls in the eastern suburbs was ditched, a new proposal’s been dumped. What went wrong this time?
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BURNSIDE Council has been forced back to the drawing board on plans for Kensington Gardens Reserve after its five sporting clubs united to oppose the latest vision for the district’s biggest park.
Councillors last week rejected a new masterplan for the reserve – less than a year after it scrapped a contentious proposal to merge the park’s cricket, rugby, tennis and bowls clubs at a central sporting hub.
The latest sticking point was a plan for wetlands to replace courts and a clubroom occupied by East Torrens Kensington Gardens (ETKG) Tennis Club in the reserve’s southeastern corner.
Council staff argued the wetlands, in that specific location, would improve water quality and biodiversity and provide nature play and educational opportunities for children.
But ETKG questioned the need for wetlands and whether the 48-year-old club should be forced to relocate to the reserve’s northeastern corner.
President Allan Wells told last week’s council meeting the club would not support the plan without a better justification for the wetlands.
“Our club, its location, environment and facilities are the envy of the hard court tennis clubs in the (eastern suburbs) association,” Mr Wells told the meeting.
“We are supportive of a masterplan … and we are happy to work (with the council) but we do not have the information to proceed.
“Is there a need for a wetland and, if so, what is the best location for it?”
In a letter to Burnside on behalf of the committee representing the five sporting clubs, Kensington District Cricket Club vice-president Gary Slack said the clubs’ support was “conditional” on evidence that showed creating the wetlands was “in the best interests of the community”.
At the meeting, Cr Grant Piggott urged councillors to support the council’s vision as staff sought more independent advice on the biodiversity site.
But the majority of his colleagues disagreed, voting 7:5 to abandon the new plan.
Elected members instead agreed to use upcoming workshops to discuss the future of the reserve, including the idea of, and location for, a wetland.
Cr Graham Bills said it would be “wrong” to progress the current plan without the support of the clubs.
“I do not want to override the wishes of the groups that have managed the facilities on their own for all these years,” Cr Bills said.
Burnside was forced to scrap its original plan for a sporting hub at the reserve after the clubs and the community raised concerns about its proposed location.
The latest, un-costed plan included provisions to upgrade the reserve’s cricket and rugby clubrooms, as well as build a new single room for the bowls, lawn and hard court tennis clubs.
Mr Slack told the Eastern Courier Messenger the clubs wanted to continue talks with the council.
“When they have a review and it comes back and says the wetland is important … the five clubs would accept that and sit down and look at how to make it work,” Mr Slack said.