Strategic planning and consultation process with the community to developing Walker Park into a regional sporting hub has started.
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It comes after Yass Valley Council’s draft 2017–22 Walker Park Regional Sporting Complex plan went on public exhibition.
The venue is the most heavily used sporting complex in Yass Valley with four active sporting clubs in soccer, rugby league, touch football (including the annual Touch Knockout) and junior cricket using the facility year round.
The venue is also the most heavily populated facility, with a large number of residential properties backing on to the oval, which council needs to consider for any future development plans.
David Cassidy, who served as the longest Yass Valley Sports Council president and retired earlier this year, said he was pleased to see the beginning of rejuvenating Walker Park.
“It’s been a long time since anything’s been done to the venue.
“I was there at the beginning, when we had just the one field and had to find more. Touch football started and they were a big push so more fields were needed,” he said.
Mr Cassidy said he the strategic plan “at this stage looks very positive and very spot on”.
He said the issues of access and seating were his main concerns and that he would be interested in reading the costs associated with the development items in the strategic plan.
Objectives of the strategic plan
- To provide quality sporting and recreational space for the community.
- To provide a managed approach that defines and integrates activities within the site and surrounding recreational areas.
- To provide a proposed priority program for development of the site to a regional or national sporting level.
- To identify the need to develop a plan of management that will meet legislative requirements and be a supporting document for any grant funding applications.
- To enhance the aesthetics for the natural environment of Walker Park.
Items in the action plan for Walker Park include grandstand seating at Jim Beck Oval, redevelop car park and road access and water-supply system from Yass River for irrigation of playing fields – all of which will be subject to consideration annually by the council in its operational plan process.
In the 2017 Canberra Region Rugby League season, the Yass Magpies first-grade side was not allocated a home semi-final game despite finishing third on the ladder.
“We were all disappointed this year when a Magpies home final was taken away from Walker Park because the facility didn’t meet competition standards,” Yass Valley mayor Rowena Abbey said.
“Now that we know about these standards and with this strategic plan, we aim to eliminate this from occurring again.
“But in order for us to get this plan right, we need to hear from our community now while this document is a draft,” Cr Abbey said.
The venue is the first of all recreational facilities in Yass Valley to undergo this strategic planning process.
Murrumbateman, Sutton, Binalong and Gundaroo will be the next sporting facilities to be reviewed, with council staff working with the communities and users prior to the draft plans going to council and being made available for further community feedback and input.
The Walker Park strategic plan is on exhibition until 5pm on Monday, January 15.
