It’s the $6 million plan in Sydney’s east that some residents say is just not cricket: a proposal to redevelop green space for an indoor sporting centre potentially named after former Test cricketer David Warner.
Randwick City Council is facing a fight with a group of locals over the proposed indoor training facility for cricket and rugby in a pocket of Snape Park in the beachside suburb of Maroubra.
An artist’s impression of the proposed indoor training facility at Snape Park, Maroubra and (right) former Test cricketer Dave Warner.Credit: Randwick City Council, Nick Moir
Residents have no beef with Warner, whose name has been mooted for the centre but not locked in.
But they say the council’s four-week community consultation process on the concept plan was cursory, the facility is too big, mature trees will be razed and scarce open parkland curtailed. An online petition opposing the centre has garnered almost 1000 signatures.
The federal government has committed $1 million of the $6.3 million budget. Cricket NSW will chip in $200,000 if it gets the green light.
Federal Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite, whose electorate of Kingsford Smith includes Maroubra, said he was “concerned about the size of the current proposal and the loss of green space”.
The proposed indoor training facility for cricket and rugby would be located in Snape Park, alongside Storey Street, shown in the background.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“I grew up across the road from Snape Park and I spent my childhood there playing footy and cricket,” Thistlethwaite said.
“I have asked Randwick City Council to put [the plan] on hold so I can meet with Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, councillors and the community to work on an alternative proposal.”
The cricket club and Maroubra Lions Rugby League Football Club, part of Souths Juniors, are the chief sporting stakeholders.
Community use of the council-owned building on Storey Street, including five cricket lanes with retractable nets, “would be considered in any lease/licence/hire agreement with the clubs”, the council has said.
Ageing toilets, change rooms and a car park would be upgraded in phase two of the project, costing a further $7 million. Residents agree that update is overdue, but the federal grant is not for this work.
Stephen Hafer, who lives opposite the park, said this was “about a community coming together to oppose something that we believe is out of proportion and scale for the local amenity and the size of this park”.
Hafer said about 80 per cent of Snape Park was “already highly utilised for sports”.
“Ultimately, I think one of the failings here ... of council is not bringing the community on the journey and expecting that this was going to be an appropriate use of a highly valued community park,” Hafer said.
Ella Israel, a long-time local, said the plan would result in the loss of a piece of “beautiful open space in the middle of suburbia”.
The effect on wildlife, including rainbow lorikeets and yellow-tailed black cockatoos, was also of concern, as was air, noise and light pollution and increased traffic congestion.
Greens councillor Philipa Veitch, a former Randwick mayor, said existing outdoor cricket nets “could easily be covered with a shade and wet weather structure if needed, and at a much lower cost”.
Veitch said the council had a longstanding commitment to upgrade the toilets and change rooms, and funding had been allocated through rate variations.
Houses on Storey Street behind Snape Park, Maroubra. The proposed training facility would run along the road.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“I would be very concerned if council proposed to use these funds for an indoor cricket facility,” she said.
Former Australian cricketer and television personality Mike Whitney, president of the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, defended the plan and said it was a “community centre for our local kids to get off their computers and their phones and come and play cricket or rugby league”.
“I’m a local resident. The facilities there are the same as they were when I was a kid,” the 66-year-old Whitney said.
A former indoor training facility at the Sydney Cricket Ground had moved to Homebush, and other nets proved difficult to book. In practical terms, there was “nowhere to train” in wet weather.
Whitney said the club had been playing at the park for 120 years and contributed “a lot of dollars” for ground maintenance.
“When the centre’s finally open ... anybody can come and hire those nets,” Whitney said. He expected schools would use the centre.
“I’ve got no dramas sitting down with any of these people and talking to them about the facility and coming to some sort of compromise.”
A council spokesperson said the concept plan was in an “early stage of consultation”. Preliminary results of community feedback showed support for the centre, but some residents raised concerns about its size and location.
“This feedback is helpful to staff who will soon present councillors with a report summarising the issues and recommending any changes that could be made to address these concerns.
“Snape Park is a valuable open space, and we are confident the community’s feedback will assist council in ensuring the upgrade will meet the needs of all those who use the park.”
David Warner: the ‘boy from Matraville’
- Randwick City Council is considering naming the proposed $6.3 million indoor cricket and rugby training facility after Warner, who attended the nearby Matraville Public School and Randwick Boys High. However, it has not officially signed off on any name.
- Community consultation on a concept plan for the building closed on March 3.
- Randwick Council’s business paper for its council meeting on March 26 last year says that in consultation with the former Test cricketer and in light of “David’s junior playing history, it is recommended that Council consider naming the new Snape Park Indoor Cricket Facility and Training Centre after David Warner”.
- In a resolution that day, councillors noted “a subsequent report will be brought back to Council … seeking adoption of renaming the Snape Park Indoor Cricket and Training Centre after Mr David Warner”.
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