Council, Newington College to work in partnership to upgrade Tempe Reserve
Inner West council is planning to partner with private school Newington College to upgrade Tempe sporting fields, including three new synthetic pitches.
Inner West
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A private boys school is looking to help fund the upgrade of a public park in the inner west.
Newington College, who are currently the dominant users of Tempe Reserve, recently approached Inner West council about investing in its revamp.
Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne said council was “looking to formalise a longstanding informal agreement with Newington in return for a substantial capital investment”.
Newington College currently uses the park on weekdays after school and on Saturdays, from about 8.30am to 4pm, 38 weeks of the year during the school term.
Cr Byrne said the proposal continues with the “same usage” by the school. but that Newington’s investment in new synthetic fields would “at least double” the amount of use by other clubs.
Cr Byrne said the funding would “benefit all local kids”.
He added a formal agreement would result in increased use of Tempe Reserve for sports clubs of multiple codes, including the Marrickville Red Devils soccer club.
At last Tuesday’s council meeting, Cr Byrne put forward a motion to “support ongoing discussion with Newington College regarding it’s … possible financial contribution to the upgrade of Tempe Reserve”.
“I am in favour of wealthy institutions investing money in things that have a demonstrable community benefits. (The partnership) will benefit kids from right across the community, including those who can’t attend those schools,” Cr Byrne said.
Tempe Reserve is about a 14-minute drive from the Stanmore school.
School fees at the College cost up to $34,000 per year and almost 2000 students are enrolled in the school.
Newington director of corporate services Peter Yates spoke at last week’s council meeting in support of the “partnership” and said the school believed it was an opportunity to help the community to ensure a better experience for all users.
“The college is prepared to make a contribution to the upgrade … It is expected the upgrades will benefit many community groups,” Mr Yates said.
The Tempe Reserve 10-year plan includes building three synthetic pitches, to be installed in Summer 2020-21.
The Inner West council allocated $2 million to construction of synthetic surfaces in the 2019-20 budget.
Cr Byrne said the greatest beneficiaries would be women and girls, who have limited access to fields in the inner west.
Tempe Reserve was marked as a “high priority site”, since Aussie rules, cricket, soccer, NRL and rugby union use the park.
An exclusivity arrangement from 2014 between Sydney Olympic and the former Marrickville council has now expired.
The Tempe Reserve master plan will go on public exhibition in September.