Home ground advantage for local sporting clubs

While Leichhardt Council remains deeply divided on amending the Callan Park Master Plan, moves to address a chronic shortage of sporting fields have been embraced by local sporting clubs.

But Greens and Liberal councillors ensured there would be no new field for the time being at Tuesday night’s Council meeting, voting to delay starting work on a seventh sporting field at the Veteran’s site for up to three months, ensuring the field won’t be ready for the 2013 winter sporting season.

Secretary of the Balmain District Football Club (DFC), Glenn Burge said an extra field is a necessity.

“The children of Leichhardt suffer from the shortage of sporting facilities [and] Council’s own reports acknowledge the shortfall in fields,” he said.

“Balmain DFC has 1,950 members, including about 1,480 kids. We cannot fit all our ‘home’ games in the municipality as there are not enough grounds per number of teams.

“If the Greens think that is serving the interests of the children of our community, then we are happy to have a very detailed debate.”

While the Greens do not dispute the need for additional sporting fields, they oppose the placement of the field onto a waterfront prime location in Callan Park.

“It’s all very well for people to talk about sporting fields and to say the Greens aren’t interested in sporting fields,” said Cr Michele McKenzie. “We used the [State] Government grant to institute the Glover St Oval in the last term of government.

“Callan Park should be preserved for future generations for passive recreation by the entire community, not for special interest groups with power and influence.”

A rally was held by Friends of Callan Park on December 2 to oppose the playing field, with 70 people in attendance. A delegation from the Friends of Callan Park also met the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Brad Hazzard and the Minister for Mental Health, Kevin Humphries prior to the NSW cabinet meeting in Concord.

Secretary of Friends of Callan Park, Hall Greenland said: “The friends reiterated the case to him that the proposal was a piece of environmental vandalism and that the Master Plan already provides six sporting fields at Callan Park.

“Mr Hazzard warned against any expectations of an early decision on the Master Plan. He told us he was dealing with concerns from NSW Health, which owns the site, and the Treasury and he still hasn’t got a sign-off for the mental health facilities from the Minister for Mental Health.

“He also said he would have to get the final plan through the Cabinet. The meeting with Mr Humphries registered some progress and he wasn’t as negative about the return of mental health services to Callan Park as in the past.”

Mayor Darcy Byrne believes the Friends of Callan Park are a small contingent and do not represent the views of the community as a whole.

“It is time for Friends of Callan Park to accept the democratic decision of Council to allow netball courts on the Veteran’s site,” he said.

“Any further attempt by Hall Greenland or the Greens Party to get elected to Federal Parliament on the back of this anti-sport crusade would be cynical and wrong. I make no apology for listening to thousands of local families instead of Friends of Callan Park.”