Sports buildings: upward and outward
by Shane Sody
The City of Adelaide is about to hand over much more of your Park Lands to sporting clubs and groups, to build bigger clubrooms to national standards; and to fence off more playing fields.
On Tuesday 12 November, the City Council formally endorsed two new documents:
a new Park Lands Management Strategy (“Towards 2036”); and
a new Community Buildings (Sport & Recreation) policy
Taken together, these two new documents give the green light for multiple sporting clubs and groups to effectively privatise large parts of your Park Lands.
The two documents presented to the City Council for endorsement on 12 November were changed from the versions that were distributed earlier this year for community consultation.
The three-storey private SACA building erected in 2017 overlooking what is now a fully-fenced-off playing field in your Park 25. This is a sample of things to come under new Council policies, in other parts of your Open Green Public Park Lands.
The most important changes now essentially devolve decision-making about sport on your Park Lands. In future, decisions on new buildings, and fences around fields will be effectively delegated to the governing bodies of various sporting codes.
Precedents were set in the 2010s, by the SA Cricket Association putting a three-storey private building in your Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga (Park 25); and by the Adelaide Comets soccer club in the adjacent Ellis Park / Tampawardli (Park 24).
The Comets building and new fences in Park 24 comprise a textbook example of how professional lobbyists have learned how to take over and commercialise your Park Lands.
A sample of things soon to come in many other Parks,within your Park Lands. The Adelaide Comets Soccer club building under construction in 2018 (top left), and finished (top right) and now advertised for commercial purposes (below). The soccer field in front of this building now is fenced, to comply with national elite-level sport guidelines.
From now on, it will be irrelevant whether new buildings increase their footprint over your Adelaide Park Lands. Rather, under these new Council documents, new sports buildings would be approved, in future if their size and features comply with one or more of these external documents, published by peak sporting bodies:
AFL Preferred Facility Guidelines (2024)
Community Cricket Facility Guidelines (2023)
Football (Soccer) Facilities Building Development Guide (2019)
Netball Victoria Facilities Manual (2017)
Tennis Australia Infrastructure Planning Resource (2018)
Nor is there to be any limit imposed on the number or scale of new buildings. Neither the new Park Lands Management Strategy nor the new Community Buildings (Sport & Recreation) Policy contain any brake or limit on the demands of sectional interests for more and larger buildings and fences, that will now, over coming years, inexorably chip away at the remaining Open Green Public spaces of your world-unique Adelaide Park Lands.
The next sites
The agenda for the City Council’s “Community Services and Culture Committee” meeting on 5 November revealed where and how large the next incursions will be. The three below are set to be the first of many.
On Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West) the current sports building leased by the Adelaide Community Sports and Recreation Association (ACSARA) is 375 square metres. A proposed new building, to be subsidised by State taxpayers and City Council ratepayers, would be 540 square metres.
On Mary Lee Park (Park 27B) the current West Adelaide Soccer Club building is 236 square metres. Its proposed replacement subsidised by State taxpayers and City Council ratepayers, is to be 430 square metres.
In Veale Park / Walyu Yarta (Park 21) there are two old dilapidated sports buildings that have been used by the SA Football (soccer) Association. They have a combined footprint of 126 square metres. Their proposed replacement is to have a floor area of 520 square metres.
More and more…
More importantly, it's clear that the three buildings suggested above would not be the only ones to stamp expanded footprints on your Park Lands.
They would be the first of many, because these documents do not place any limits on the number of new buildings nor the number of organisations that would be permitted to duplicate these sort of enlarged facilities on most Parks within your Park Lands.
Not just for sport
There is no doubt that many old sporting sheds on your Park Lands are in dire need of renovation, and yes, even extensions to cater for more people playing sport more often.
But these proposals are not just to help people play sport. The Council documents affirm that (like the SACA building pictured above in Park 25, and the Comets building pictured above in Park 24) at least some of these proposed new buildings will also be permitted to include additional features such as “common area, kitchen area and meeting room” (aka function room for hire) each of which would be “considered on a case-by-case basis”.
Aren’t some old buildings being demolished?
Yes in two Parks, the Council documents suggest that two old disused sheds would be demolished.
However the new Council documents do not suggest that this would result in any net increase in accessible Open, Green, Public Park Lands.
Was there any pushback from Councillors?
Councillor Phillip Martin says he is “deeply concerned about the potential impacts of some of these measures.” Before the meeting on Tuesday 12 November, he told us;
“Hopefully, other elected members will be open to considering amendments that might help to strengthen protections for our Park Lands.”
However, Cr Martin had only one other Councillor to back his stand .
The two City Councillors who have consistently spoken up for “Open, Green, Public” Park Lands. Deputy Lord Mayor Keiran Snape (left) and North Ward’s Councillor Phillip Martin (right). were the only ones to speak up and vote against this new direction for larger buildings to take over more of your Park Lands.
How did it get to this?
The documents have been many months in preparation. Earlier, draft versions of the documents were released for public consultation.
However, the final version of each document was amended after this consultation period had ended, to ensure that future land grabs by sporting organisations will certainly be approved.
Author John Bridgland has analysed how this occurred. (PDF, 8 pp, 6.2Mb)
John Bridgland
The author of this article, Shane Sody, is the President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association and the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".
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