Push to unlock Victorian public school grounds amid population boom

Almost half a million people would gain access to sporting grounds and extra open space if more Victorian public schools were unlocked for community use, a new report reveals.

Almost half a million people would gain access to sporting grounds and extra open space if more public schools were unlocked for community use, a new report says.

The Infrastructure Victoria report recommends the state government create incentives – such as specific maintenance and infrastructure grants – to keep gates open and make use of existing recreational space.

It says this would provide prime land at a time when the population is growing and billions of dollars would need to be spent on more parks and ovals.

Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Dr Jonathan Spear said there were 450ha of school ovals in Melbourne alone, which is the equivalent of 110 MCGs.

“As Victoria grows and more people live closer together, sharing more school grounds can benefit many more people in cities like Melbourne and, in the longer term, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo,” he said.

About two thirds of schools keep their ovals open all year round, and a significant number of those that don’t cite safety concerns as to why they keep grounds padlocked.

But an analysis of police reports by Infrastructure Victoria as part of its work found there was no statistical difference in crime rates based on whether school properties were open.

Dr Spear said the greatest benefit would be in Melbourne’s outer northern, western and southeastern suburbs where there are “not enough large parcels of land for many new community sports fields”.

Infrastructure Victoria recommends the government create a list of priority areas where benefits would be greatest, and offer schools grants for maintenance and other costs if they shared open space outside school hours.

The Infrastructure Victoria report recommends the state government create incentives to keep the gates open at more public schools.

Schools should also be allowed to tap into infrastructure funding – potentially in co-ordination with local government – to upgrade facilities for shared use.

“We heard (from schools) concerns about funding, resources and appropriate responsibility for maintenance,” Dr Spear said.

“We also heard about the existing administrative load that school leaders have. That’s why our recommendations to the Victorian government focus on supporting schools to help manage the costs of sharing school grounds with the community.”

About 1.7 million Melburnians can’t reach a community sports fields within a 10-minute walk, but up to 453,000 of those people would gain access under reforms proposed.

One in five people surveyed as part of the report say they would use school grounds outside of school hours if they were available.

Stay-at-home dad Matt Shaw said his family bought a townhouse in the inner suburbs of Melbourne because of the school playgrounds that are within a short walk from home.

“Removing the barrier of transport and having access to open space that is fenced and safe is critical since we live in a densely populated area,” he said.

Originally published as Push to unlock Victorian public school grounds amid population boom