‘Plastic grass has no place here’: Why residents want to stop an elite rugby precinct

Contentious plans for a suburban sporting facility have prompted calls for the federal government to intervene to prevent harm to endangered bushland and animals and stop the installation of fake grass.

The Hills Shire Council wants to build an elite rugby union precinct on the site of a former pony club at Fred Caterson Reserve in Castle Hill, as well as upgrade existing sporting and recreational facilities to cater for the area’s rapidly growing population.

The Hills Shire Greens councillor Mila Kasby and volunteer wildlife rescuer Kerrie Sicard at the site of an elite rugby precinct proposed for Fred Caterson Reserve in Castle Hill.Credit: Nikki Short

But opponents say the council’s development plans threaten to pollute waterways and harm endangered plants and animals, and are concerned the revamped precinct will include synthetic grass.

A notice of motion from Greens councillor Mila Kasby calling for a ban on synthetic turf fields in ecologically sensitive areas, including the former pony club site, will be debated at the council’s July 23 meeting.

Kasby said she had grave concerns about the council’s plans, as plastic grass would wreak ecological havoc and that many residents wanted the area to become a nature park.

Greens councillor Mila Kasby (left) wants The Hills Shire to ban synthetic turf fields in ecologically sensitive areas such as the site earmarked for an elite rugby precinct.Credit: Nikki Short

“Natural turf fields for community level sport could coexist here, but that’s not council’s preferred endgame,” she said.

A council spokeswoman said suggestions that the council ignored environmental advice are “completely false”.

She said the old pony club site earmarked for the rugby facility had largely been cleared of trees since the 1970s.

“Council is of the view that the potential environmental impact outlined by opponents of the project has been overestimated,” she said.

She also said there were no current plans to install a synthetic grass field at Fred Caterson Reserve.

“Should this option be pursued in the future, the environmental impact and potential mitigation measures will be carefully assessed,” she said.

But upper house Greens MP Sue Higginson said the risks posed by the project to the environment and biodiversity warranted the intervention of federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Higginson also wants the NSW government to force the council to change its plans for the site, which she said ignored the findings of environmental experts.

“Although there is no development application at this stage, without significant changes to the plan, this project is inappropriate and risks irreparable damage to the local environment,” she wrote in a letter to Planning Minister Paul Scully.

The installation of artificial turf has long been controversial, with opponents claiming fake grass poses environmental and health risks. But sporting competitions have been thrown into disarray by wet weather, forcing the closure of waterlogged sports ovals across Sydney.

The Hills Shire has signed a memorandum of understanding with Eastwood District Rugby Union Football Club to “potentially further embellish these fields to a higher standard in the future”.

The club’s general manager, Robert Frost, said it decided to relocate in 2018 from Marsfield to Castle Hill to make it more accessible for the growing number of players from Sydney’s north-west.

“We are the gateway to elite rugby, and the sport is widely popular among Hills residents and beyond,” he said.

Frost said the council had assured the club it will follow all regulatory and environmental requirements to turn the old pony club into rugby fields.

“Once the site has been constructed, our role will be that of a tenant,” he said.

Volunteer wildlife rescuer Kerrie Sicard said she was concerned the council would ignore the impact of the redevelopment on endangered bushland and animals.

Sicard wants the sports facility plans scrapped and the site’s bushland protected.

“This cannot happen if you put an elite premier rugby facility, with synthetic fields, and used for major games, filled, lighting and speaker systems forever damaging and ruining the natural environment,” she said.

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