By Cam Lucadou-Wells
After spending $100,000, Greater Dandenong Council has scuppered its fourth draft masterplan for Wal Turner Reserve in Dandnenong North.
The council will no longer seek to rebuild the pavilion, expand the reserve nor to relocate cricket practice nets to near the centre of the reserve.
The reserve – being a diminutive 2.66 hectares – was deemed more suitable as a “neighbourhood park” than a sports ground.
According to a notice-of-motion tabled by Cr Maria Sampey on 14 April, the plan was beset by “strongly differing views” including the “visually unattractive” proposed location of the nets.
“There should be no major capital investment into increasing the intensity of formal sporting activity on site,” the motion’s preamble stated.
The council will investigate moving tenants Silverton Cricket Club and South East United soccer club to an upgraded Barry J Powell Reserve with a new three-storey pavilion about 550 metres away.
Informal and junior sports will continue to be able to use Turner Reserve, the pavilion renovated with female-friendly facilities, Cr Sampey said.
Silverton Primary School will be requested to share maintenance costs for the reserve.
Cr Sampey said the masterplan’s “grandiose” ambition didn’t match the reserve’s limited size, declaring the relocated nets as an “eye-sore”.
“This is a beautiful little park. The oval isn’t big enough to cope with A-Grade teams, it was really for practice.”
In support, Cr Matthew Kirwan said he was “sick to death” of the Turner Reserve issue “going around in circles”. The motion was a “fantastic circuit breaker”, he said.
“The premier competitive sporting reserve should be the much larger Barry Powell Reserve and we should concentrate our investment there and make Wal Turner a passive, open space.”
Cr Angela Long queried the reserve as too small for sports, given Silverton Cricket Club had used it for 40 years.
“The club has been waiting quite a number of years for these improvements (to its clubrooms) and now you have squashed them.”
Cr Tim Dark unsuccessfully sought for the council to at least complete the “uncontested” parts of the masterplan such as walking paths, car parking, lighting, signage and landscaping.
“To disband the masterplan and throw away $100,000 … is just an inexcusable waste of money.”
He said the reserve wasn’t a “pocket park” but used “heavily and regularly” by young families and Silverton Primary School. Abandoning the masterplan was an “act of economic vandalism”.
Cr Peter Brown said the “uncontested” notion was “hopelessly nebulous”. There was no point throwing “good money after bad” into the Turner Reserve “money-pit for bad design”.
“Let’s not throw in another 100 grand and waste it.”
Council officers will investigate relocating the Turner Reserve clubs as well as the required upgrades to Powell Reserve. They will report by 23 November.
