Brighton Oval sports clubs seek funding for three separate clubrooms

SPORTS groups in Adelaide’s west say they don’t want to have to share a planned new $13m sports club despite a similar initiative being embraced in the eastern suburbs.

30/10/14 - Brighton Cricket Club president Paul Mackenzie and Brighton Football Club president Kym Steer are happy Brighton Oval sporting clubs are set for redevelopment. Photo Tom Huntley

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BRIGHTON Oval sports clubs want government funding for three separate clubrooms, arguing a council plan for a $13 million shared base will leave them worse off and drive members away.

Under the clubs’ plan, there would be a new clubroom for rugby union, another for football and cricket and a lacrosse clubroom would be upgraded.

Holdfast Bay Council released plans in 2011 to demolish the clubs’ current rooms and replace them with one large building with separate bars and canteens for each group.

The clubs’ vision will be presented to the council at a meeting on Tuesday.

A long-awaited $5.3m shared use sports and recreation hub was opened at Glenunga in Adelaide’s east early this year and has been embraced by a range of sports and community groups.

A master plan of the Glenunga Hub. The facility has now been completed.

However, Brighton Lacrosse Club president Jason Webb saysthe original council plan would leave his club struggling financially because the shared clubrooms would be too far away from the lacrosse fields.

“We would not be able to maintain an income through bar and food revenue and we would lose a lot of spectators,” Mr Webb said.

Brighton Football Club president Kym Steer said new separate clubrooms could cost less than the previous design, although he could not specify an amount.

“We’ve come up with a model that’s cheaper and suits the clubs’ needs,” Mr Steer said.

“The council’s model was the Taj Mahal one but many aspects did not fit the clubs.”

The council’s proposed shared clubroom would be built on the site of the football and cricket clubrooms, which would mean rugby spectators squinting into the sun.

A range of sports and recreation groups have embraced a $5.3m hub in Adelaide’s east at Glenunga, including Polynesian dancing for fitness and fun group, WOW. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

The Brighton Rugby Union Football Club did not return calls.

The clubs want the lacrosse clubroom upgraded, the football and cricket clubroom replaced on its current site, and rugby union would move to a new building on Brighton Rd.

The oval is in the marginal federal seat of Boothby, where both major parties promised $5 million for Seacliff’s Kauri Parade Sporting and Community Precinct ahead of the 2013 election.

Federal Liberal Boothby MP Andrew Southcott said a combined clubroom would have a better chance of attracting federal grants.

However, he said it was important all the clubs and the council were behind the same concept.

“That makes for a stronger application,” Dr Southcott said.

Holdfast Bay Mayor Stephen Patterson said it was premature to comment on the clubs’ idea since it had not yet been presented to councillors.

He said a main consideration for the council was whether it would be cheaper or more expensive than the current proposal.

The council has not committed any money to the project, apart from the money it received for selling the nearby former Brighton Town Hall. The council has not revealed the sale price, but it was expected to be between $1.79m and $2.29m.

It is spending $344,000 on the precinct this year, including refurbishing the grandstand, replacing toilets and upgrading clubrooms.

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