The once-doomed Robert Booth Reserve’s athletics facility and its little athletics club may earn a stay of execution, but their fates still hang in the balance.
A council report to be tabled on 10 June proposes a $100,000 masterplan that weighs up the closure of the track which is home to Dandenong Little Athletics Club.
Options include returning the venue to open space or doing remedial repair works to continue the facility.
Prior to the report, the club had been advised by the council to relocate to the recently-upgraded Ross Reserve after the 2024-25 season.
The new report was “a pause, not a lifeline” for the “family club”, says DLAC president David Daff, who has been fighting to retain the facility.
“There’s more hope now than there’s been for a long time.”
Daff says that moving would destroy the club, estimating that half of the families and members would drop out due to not having the time or means to relocate to Ross Reserve.
Many of the kids live close to Booth Reserve, walking and riding their bikes down to the track after school.
Ross Reserve is about a 90-minute round-trip by public transport.
The reserve’s lush grass running track, long jump pits, discus, shot put and javelin fields have been home to DLAC for the past 40 years.
Its membership had more than doubled in the past two years to 69 at present.
Greater Dandenong Council says it’s not feasible to keep the facility, which it notes borders with City of Casey.
It argues that Booth Reserve presents “significant financial, safety and reputational risks” in its current state.
This year, two schools had opted out of holding carnivals at Booth in favour of Ross Reserve.
Future school carnivals would be banned at Booth until a decision was made on the facility’s future, the report stated.
The council estimates about $416,000 is required to fix the “high-risk” areas and $250,000-plus to fix the track’s drainage.
A full track reconstruction was estimated to cost $2 million-plus in 2019, according to the council.
Daff says the costs are over-stated, arguing the council’s assessment was based on international adult standards. Requirements such as a 33-metre javelin run-up were not applicable for little aths.
In order to stay at Booth Reserve, the DLAC has offered to help maintain, upgrade and repair the facility, or to share the venue with other sports.
The club will seek sponsors to help fund the repair effort, Daff says.
About $100,000 would fix the most urgent need – the track’s broken sprinklers, which the council had declined to fix, he said.
Last summer, kids and parents made ‘bucket runs’ to water the 100-metre track after training and meets.
According to the council, if the masterplan is approved, it will cost $23,000 to keep the centre open for another season.
The council’s $240,900 allocated to “decommission” the facility and return it to open space would be diverted towards the masterplan and future maintenance or works.
Last year, Greater Dandenong Council’s community strengthening executive director Peta Gillies said its 2019 athletics development plan found that “it was not feasible to service two athletics facilities in Greater Dandenong”.
It also concluded that “the completion of the $6.6 million Ross Reserve Athletics Facility would result in the decommissioning of Robert Booth Reserve Athletics Facility”.
