Pascoe Vale Football Club: children left to play in ‘industrial park’ after Moreland City Council backflip

Despite a $7m redevelopment, the Greens-led Moreland council have told junior soccer kids they have no future at a popular reserve.

Pascoe Vale Football Club president Lou Tona said the club is devastated they will be forced to move their junior teams to Richards Reserve after a last-minute backflip by Moreland Council.

Hundreds of young soccer players will be forced to play on an unsafe pitch instead of a recently renovated reserve after a Melbourne council blew the whistle in favour of dog owners.

Pascoe Vale Football Club’s junior teams will be sent to Richards Reserve, described by multiple councillors as “industrial” and “unsafe”, after the majority of councillors reneged on a community-approved plan to accommodate junior teams at Hosken Reserve, which has recently received $7m to upgrade its facilities.

PVFC president Lou Tona said his club, home to 450 players across 33 squads, became caught in the crossfires of a “toxic, ugly” debate.

“It’s devastating for me and the club,” Mr Tona said.

Despite agreeing on a plan to accommodate PVFC’s junior teams at Hosken Reserve in October last year, Moreland ceded to the demands of a group of dog owners at the most recent council meeting.

The dog group, known as Save Hosken Reserve, and who have not responded to questions put to them by Leader, long maintain the pitch where the club’s junior teams were to train and play should be left free for the local community.

“For two years we’ve fought this battle,” Mr Tona said.

“The (Hosken Reserve) plan was voted on last year — we just can’t understand why the field is being taken away.”

PVFC, which competes in the National Premier League and has produced stars such as Melbourne City forward Stefan Colakovski, is one of Melbourne’s biggest soccer clubs.

Councillors recently narrowly voted down the plans, with new Greens and Socialist voting block combining to kill the plans.

But Save Hoksen Reserve told Leader that four petitions over in the past two years show that the council was right to protect the reserve for the use of the community.

A spokesperson for the organisation said that 733 residents signed a petition in September last year calling on all councillors to ensure continued community access to the park.

“Residents and ratepayers have spent over two years struggling to have our concerns listened to and addressed by the Moreland Council,” they told Leader on Wednesday.

“We are relieved that the council have finally heard us and have made a decision that ensures our rapidly growing community will be able to continue to access this well-used park, which will also continue to accommodate formal sports.”

Mayor Mark Riley said in a statement that the decision “strikes the right balance,” and that Richards Reserve would receive $340,000 in funding to ensure it is fit for PVFC’s junior teams.

“I want to assure Pascoe Vale Football Club and their members that they will still have access to the East Field (of Hosken Reserve) until... the upgrades are completed,” Cr Riley said.

“This decision strikes the right balance to ensure local kids can play soccer close to home at a purpose-built facility, while all residents can enjoy (Hosken Reserve) East Field for walking their dogs or kicking the ball around with their family.”

Independent councillor Oscar Yildiz, who plays socially for PVFC three days a week, said Richards Reserve was “just not conducive to training kids.”

“The area’s very dark and it’s in an industrial part of Coburg,” he said.

“It’s a place for really bad behaviour — people shoot up (drugs) beneath the velodrome.”

Labor councillor Lambros Tapinos was another vocal critic of the council’s decision.

“The community consultation was accepted in October last year. It was nearly a year-long process and the consultation was externally facilitated,” Cr Tapinos said.

“It’s not a great look when you’re spending $7 million on a big upgrade and at the same time telling six year olds to go and play down the road,” he said.