Cricket Tasmania planning move to Seven Mile Beach with purchase of land at Royal Hobart Golf Club
Cricket Tasmania has finally provided an update on where it intends to build a proposed Tasmanian Cricket Centre for Excellence and Community. See where they want to move.
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Cricket Tasmania CEO Dominic Baker is confident a proposed site of land for the organisation’s new home will “secure the future” for Tasmanian cricket.
The organisation confirmed on Wednesday that a piece of land at the Royal Hobart Golf Club, measuring 15 hectares and currently home to pine plantation, was the ideal site for it’s proposed Tasmanian Cricket Centre for Excellence and Community.
The new home at Seven Mile Beach would support the development of a new state-of-the-art sporting, administration, game development and education facility that will underpin the long-term growth of Tasmanian cricket.
Planned to include three ovals, an indoor centre, an administration base and 60-plus practice wickets, both a price tag and construction date are still to be determined.
The facility would play home to 55 contracted professional cricketers, 200 developing cricketers in the pathway’s programs and the broader cricket community that boasts 17 associations, servicing 72 competitions and 135 clubs.
Speaking on Wednesday, Baker said discussions with the golf club had been ongoing for over a year and was confident it was a win-win for both parties.
“Over the last 18 months we’ve been working with Royal Hobart on a deal,” Baker said.
“I think there is a real opportunity for partnership between the two organisations as our relationship develops.”
The proposed development still needs to go through a vote of the Royal Hobart members, set to take place in February, with 75 per cent of members needing to be in favour for the sale to be confirmed.
While Baker didn’t confirm if they would need government funding for the project, he said they planned to enter discussions around selling the equity they hold in Bellerive Oval to help fund the move.
Currently based at Bellerive Oval, Cricket Tasmania has made no secret of its desire to find a new home and has cited a number of factors for its desire to relocate from a venue they’ve called home since the 1980s.
While Cricket Tasmania owns the infrastructure around the ground, they lease the playing surface from the Clarence City Council and currently shares the ground with football during the winter.
A rise in their professional program is also a key contributor with the growth of both the women’s and pathways programs meaning Bellerive is unable to cope with the load needed to support the next phase of the sport’s growth.
“The 15 hectares gives us so many options,” Baker added.
“We need to do a lot of work with the local community here, there’s walking tracks around where we are, so we want to make sure we embrace that.
“To also be able to give young talent the opportunity to train and practice consistently on turf, which we don’t have that option at the moment, I think it’s going to make for better cricketers and free up a lot more ground space that currently councils are getting hammered on.
“Bellerive is still a wonderful place to play cricket and is servicing our needs now, but this is about securing the cricket needs for the future and hopefully the next 50 years.”
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