Draft masterplan outlines development opportunities for sports precinct
A draft masterplan has been completed, outlining development opportunities for one of north Brisbane’s largest sporting precincts.
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A DRAFT masterplan has been completed for O’Callaghan Park in Zillmere, outlining development opportunities for one of north Brisbane’s largest sporting precincts.
Cr Jared Cassidy (Deagon) said the plan aimed to make the site more user friendly and accessible, a move welcomed by a number of park users including North Star Football Club, Aspley Devils Rugby League and Zillmere PCYC.
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Cr Cassidy said the masterplan identified opportunities for field upgrades, better lighting and roads, footpaths, more parking, better use of the back fields and better access to them.
“O’Callaghan Park is terribly underused and one of the biggest reasons for this is access,” he said.
“Probably a decade ago the entrance was realigned to Church Rd but it was never completed, and from the Jennings St entrance it’s not easy to access the softball fields.
“A lot of clubs, in isolation, have been doing a lot of their own planning and we thought it was just natural to bring it all together and find out what everyone is doing well or not doing well.
“Not all ideas will require council capital, some will be funded by the clubs through grants.
“O’Callaghan Park is one of the bigger sporting precincts in the northern suburbs and this is a golden opportunity to invest in a public space which will be an antidote to a lot of the pressures of development on the northside.
“We hope we can get started next year on some of these improvements.”
One area which should be upgraded sooner is the youth area with skatepark, playground and basketball court.
“There is council funding, carried over from the previous financial year, to turn the basketball court area into a multi-use games area with basketball, netball and futsal,” Cr Cassidy said.
“Works on this should start happening this calendar year.”
North Star Football Club president Jason Firkin said he was very excited about the masterplan.
“We hold football (soccer) almost all year round and to have plans for improving the entire park is great,” Mr Firkin said.
“Rather then taking a blanket approach to uplifting the park, council has taken a consultative approach so they can address issues specific to this area.
“Improved lighting as well as ‘line-of-sight’ across the park will improve security and result in reduced vandalism.
“Extending the Jennings St access point in a loop throughout the park to join the Zillmere Rd access point will aid in establishing more of a sporting precinct rather than separate, isolated sporting clubs.”
Mr Firkin said these improvements “will promote more collaboration between clubs and as a result offer more to the local community, for example a shared service offering or use of park space for local community events”.
Aspley Devils Rugby League president Stephen Buckley said they were also excited about a
possible upgrade, “in particular the new road entrance from Zillmere Rd and the roadway over the storm water drain to enable better access and more parking for all fields”.
Mr Buckley said he was keen to see improvements such as public toilets, water tanks (which would enable all clubs to save money on water bills), picnic areas, shaded areas and new lights.
He said there would be benefits for the club with more training space, upgraded lights, better safety for players and parents with the new lights around all areas, and opening up more space for the public “as we have some social clubs using our field which puts more pressure on the field and then costs us more for end of season maintenance”.
Zillmere PCYC branch manager Scott Jensen said the main improvement in terms of accessibility was to complete the road works at the intersection of Zillmere and Church Rds.
“This will provide the community with a safer entry point into the precinct,” Sergeant Jensen said.
“This will also improve the general appearance to the precinct, making it more inviting to the community.
“In addition to this there was a lot of support to improve lighting throughout the area to assist with security and increase the available hours members can use the precinct after dark. It would be a huge improvement for the PCYC to have better lighting.
“I’m aware some of the other leaseholders in the precinct talked about better drainage, parking and roads leading to the baseball courts at the rear of the precinct.
“Any improvements made to the precinct to encourage participation growth and improve security to make the parks a safe space are welcomed.”
THE DRAFT MASTERPLAN INCLUDES:
■ Existing signalised intersection at Zillmere-Church Rds modified to create new four-way intersection to provide primary site access to parking off Zillmere Rd
■ Modify existing AFL entry to site
■ Build public toilets near barbecue and playground area
■ Upgrade cricket practice nets to include new pitch surface and new safety fencing
■ Upgrade concrete cricket wickets to synthetic surface for junior cricket
■ Provide dedicated entry to western end of site to softball/baseball leased area, and provide formalised carparking near the softball fields
■ Remove remnants of former mini golf use and consider spectator shelters
■ Provide linking pathways through site
■ Install new pedestrian/cycle bridge
■ Remove bushy weeds from drainage channels and lift tree canopies where required to create selected clear sightlines to improve passive surveillance to isolated areas
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