Project Proposal DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADDITIONAL SOCCER PITCH AT THE KINGBOROUGH SPORTS CENTRE COMPLEX

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1 Project Proposal DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADDITIONAL SOCCER PITCH AT THE KINGBOROUGH SPORTS CENTRE COMPLEX An initiative of the Kingborough Council and Kingborough Lions United Football Club May 2016 BACKGROUND The Kingborough municipality in southern Tasmania is an area that has a strong formal sports sector with many clubs continuing to grow or maintain participant numbers. The increasing population will continue to demand improved facilities and settings to meet the growing needs. The main Kingborough Sports Centre Precinct has a four court indoor stadium, gymnastics centre, fitness centre, squash courts, table tennis centre, netball courts and sauna facilities. The centre offers a comprehensive range of sports and recreational activities including fitness programs, basketball, volleyball, indoor cricket, martial arts, indoor soccer, squash, badminton, netball, table tennis, tennis, gymnastics, dance, school and vocational care programs. Current outdoor facilities in the Sports Centre Precinct now include the Twin Ovals catering for elite level AFL football and cricket, an outdoor tennis centre, club cricket oval at Lightwood Park, croquet lawns, a little athletics complex at Gormley Park, a mountain bike park adjacent to the Twin Ovals, dog obedience training area and radio car control centre. 1

2 A number of sporting and recreational clubs utilise these facilities and some of these are currently at capacity. Football (soccer) is now the fastest growing and most popular team sport in Australia and is continuing to draw large numbers of boys and girls into the game at all ages. Kingborough s only National Premier League (NPL) team operates at the Lightwood Park precinct. Other Clubs Taroona, Southern FC, Woodbridge Whalers and school-based teams plays in lower level, youth and junior leagues. THE KINGBOROUGH SPORTS CENTRE MASTER PLAN In 2009 Kingborough Council recognised the need to prepare an overall master plan for the whole of the Kingborough Sports Centre Site. Inspiring Place was engaged by Council to consult the relevant sporting and community groups and develop a master plan for the Kingborough Sports Centre precinct. The Council endorsed Kingborough Sports Centre Master Plan recommended that Lightwood Park should become one of the best venues for soccer in the Greater Hobart region in the longer term. This plan recommended that the ground (Lightwood 1) be redeveloped to become a fully drained, sand based turf pitch with night lighting and improvements to change rooms for players and referees and construction of spectator facilities. In recent years, the Kingborough Council has undertaken significant work to upgrade the playing surface of Lightwood Park 1 to provide a facility for high level soccer matches. Consultation and research findings have reinforced the concept that the site is ideally positioned to become one of the region s premier venues for soccer. Kingborough Sports Complex Master Plan 2

3 KINGBOROUGH LIONS UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB (KLUFC) The host tenant Club of Lightwood Park, the Kingborough Lions, are an active community club, run by volunteers, and now have over 600 members and over 120 officials (coaches, managers, first aid). They offer pathway programs from U6 to Premier Leagues for men and women and soccer is now a year round sport for elite and development players. The Kingborough Lions are now in their 4 th year in the State-wide National Premier League part of the National FFA Cup. The Kingborough Lions have been working closely with Council to identify current and future infrastructure needs both in the short and long term, the issues currently faced which prevent them expanding as a Club, and developing a working relationship to help meet the demands of the sport, now and well into the future. Developing world-class football facilities in the centre of the fastest growing region of Tasmania to increase local participation in the biggest game in the world (Kingborough Lions United Football Club) Our vision is for a world class Southern Tasmania football hub (Kingborough Lions United Football Club) 3

4 LIGHTWOOD PARK SOCCER PRECINCT The Lightwood Park Soccer Precinct currently consists of: Lightwood Park 1 - soccer Lightwood Park 2 - soccer (winter), club cricket (summer) Lightwood Park 3 - soccer training field all year round subject to ground conditions Gormley Park - soccer (winter), little athletics (summer) There is now the need to develop the infrastructure to match the growth in the game and upgrading of Lightwood Park to a standard that would provide a high quality venue for the National Premier League, Women s Championship and any future elite standard games. This includes the capacity to host night time games and high performance training programs. CURRENT SITUATION Demand for soccer outstrips supply, and the growth of the game is limited by grounds and restraints in winter with ground closures when conditions are wet and un-safe and all other grounds are booked out at capacity. The Lightwood Park soccer ground has a full size natural turf soccer ground plus another turf area on the western side of the ground that is currently used for warm ups. To provide an additional ground, it is proposed to expand this area by excavating into the embankment to make another high quality area suitable for training, match warm ups and games. Lightwood Park 1 currently 4

5 PROPOSAL To construct an additional ground ( in the order of 95m x 45m) adjacent to the current Lightwood 1 ground, complete with training lights on the new ground and lighting on the current ground to the standard for playing night National Premier League and Women s Championship standard games. This will involve excavation, irrigation and drainage works as part of the site construction. The end result will provide an additional quality area for training, match warm ups and games, and a full sized ground lit to standard for night NPL games. This would become the only high performance grass surface for football at this level in the State. National Premier League 5

6 PROJECT COSTS Lightwood Park Soccer Ground Extension Council has received a full quotation from Total Turf Care to undertake the proposed works. Note: the project can be packaged into delivery stages Total Turf Care Excavation works $113,230 Irrigation system works $24,400 Sub-soil drainage works $29,810 Turf sand slitting/banding works $10,600 Turf seed and grow in period $7,800 General costs including design works, GPS and site surveys $6,600 Total Turf Care Sub-total excluding GST $192,440 GST $19,244 Total Turf Care Project Total $211,684 Additional Costs Lighting new ground $180,000 Lighting existing LP1 ground $250,000 Fencing $13,000 Goals for new ground $12,000 General ground improvements and surrounds $50,000 Project Sub-Total $716, % project contingency $71,668 TOTAL PROJECT COSTS $790,000 6

7 SUMMARY The outcome of this proposal will provide an additional soccer ground for training and games to help match the local growth in the sport. It will provide a high quality venue to make best use of the available space for sporting purposes across all levels. It will also bring the standard of the original Lightwood Ground 1 to the level to play men s and women s championship and elite level games at night with full lighting. Council is committed to on-going maintenance of all grounds and future up-grades to maintain a high standard of playing surface for the needs of the Kingborough community. Council will also provide expertise in project and financial management associated with the implementation of the proposal. It is envisaged that with immediate funding commitments from Government, works would commence in spring 2016, and completed by December 2016 to have the ground ready for use at the start of the 2017 winter sports season (April 2017). This development is complementary to, and the vital first step towards, the proposed future longer-term development of all-weather synthetic multi-sports grounds and associated infrastructure at the Kingborough Sports Precinct. The Council is facilitating with stakeholders including the Kingborough Lions, the feasibility and planning required to progress a long term vision for football and other sporting facilities in Kingborough. CONTACTS Kingborough Council Daniel Smee, Manager Community and Recreational Services, dsmee@kingborough.tas.gov.au phone: (03) Kingborough Lions United Football Club Warren Isles, President, president@klufc.org.au phone: Website: 7