A NEW GAME
The Need for Sustainable Practices for Local
Sports Delivery
(Draft November 2007)
1
A NEW GAME
Council’s strategic plan identifies the ‘building of
safe, healthy and active lifestyles’ as a key
strategic direction for the organisation and the
community.
The Need for Sustainable Practices for Local
Sports Delivery
Preamble
The following paper is a consolidation of a
number of documents and papers prepared and
presented over the last few years towards the
ongoing management challenge of sports
delivery in particular matching sports participation
growth with facility provision.
Council’s management plan supports the
maintenance of a healthy, active community,
recognising that physical activity is directly linked
to health outcomes. Council aims to manage
participation in recreation and active leisure
however Council along with all other Local
Governments are not the primary drivers of
demand they are just reacting to external policy
agendas that seek to improve the health of
residents and the community generally.
History and Background
Sutherland Shire Council as a Local Government
Authority continues to be a strong supporter and
sponsor of sport and recreation provision.
Participation in community sport and active
leisure provides many tangible and intangible
health and social benefits to the community.
In the past ten years the Sutherland Shire has
seen growth in organised sport significantly
outstrip population growth.
Given population and participation pressure, the
capacity of Council to supply sporting grounds
that meet community needs and expectations,
whilst at the same time being sustainable, is
becoming an increasingly difficult scenario to
manage.
This increase in growth can be attributed to a
number of strategies and directions of other
levels of government or relevant agency’s.
In reviewing the many variables concerning the
management of facilities a basic supply and
demand concept is used to best illustrate the
current challenges.
The challenges facing the Sutherland Shire
community in meeting current and future demand
for sportsgrounds include –
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Under the principles of supply and demand
equilibrium exists at the intersection of consumer
demand and producer supply, referring to the
illustration below - supply (facilities) meets
demand (participation)
Increasing demand
Changes in sports delivery
Undersupply of facilities
Overuse of facilities
Limited space for additional facility
provision
Facility standards
Arbitrarily formulated and applied water
restrictions
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
(Demand)
As one of the largest local government areas in
NSW and being home to many of the largest
sporting associations in the state these issues
have set a challenges for council and its
community to develop some guiding procedures
and consider establishing a framework to assist
in decision-making for the longer term
sustainability of the sports delivery system.
Supply meets
demand
Sutherland Shire Strategic Direction - Active
Lifestyles.
The Sutherland Shire is one of the largest local
government areas in NSW, servicing a population
of 215,053 (ABS Estimated and Projected
Resident Populations).
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Facilities
(Supply)
Most major sports have developed similar
expansion programs as federal funding is linked
to increased participation numbers.
PARTICIPATION - (Demand)
SSC Response – Council has limited control or
ability to influence these policy directions.
National participation studies in sport &
recreation are not sophisticated enough to
interrogate at the local level the influence these
policy direction have on participation levels.
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
(Demand)
Facilities
(Supply)
State Government Policy and Planning
Directions
Supply meets
demand
State Plan
Higher Urban Densities - strategy for increased
population
Key Outcomes - Environment for Living
Variables Driving Demand
Numerous agendas are currently driving the
increasing movement towards active lifestyles.
Councils are not a major driver of these issues or
have primary control over the outcomes.
Priority E8:
More people using parks, sporting and
recreational facilities, and participating in
the arts and cultural activity
Measure
E8(a): The number of visits to State
Government parks and reserves
E8(b): The number of people aged 18
years and over participating in sporting
activities and physical exercise at least
once in the previous 12 months.
E8(c): The number of people aged 18
years and over visiting cultural venues
and events and participating in the arts
and cultural activity at least once in the
previous 12 months.
Federal Government Policy Directions
 Obesity Action Plan
 Healthy Weight 2008 - Policy
 Get Moving Campaign
 Around Australia in 40 Days walking
challenge,
 The Healthy Active Ambassador
Program,
 National Children’s Nutrition and Physical
Activity Survey,
 A new Healthy Weight website,
 Active After-School Communities
program and the
 Active School Curriculum.
 Backing Australia 's Sporting Ability – a
more active Australia
 Targeted Sports Program (TSP) through
the Australian Sports Commission (ASC)
Target
E8(a): Increase the number of visits to
State Government parks and reserves by
20 per cent by 2016.
E8(b): Increase the number of people
participating in sporting activities and
physical exercise by 10 per cent by 2016.
Targeted Sports Program - A clear direction to
focus on increasing participation in organised
sport, particularly at the club and school levels.
SSC Response – Increase in sporting activity
participation in Sutherland Shire from the State
Plan priorities 10% increase will have a projected
range of between 10,000 to 20,000 new
participants.
TSP - Rugby League -Smaller Steps Program
has four strategic packages:
Kids to Kangaroos (5 to 8 years)
Joey League (9 to 10 years)
Legends of League (10 to 13 years)
League Sevens (13 to 14 years).
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Changing Nature of Sport and Leisure
Participation
Sport & Leisure participation evolves through self
direction and motivation or policy intervention.
sports that meet the diverse and varied needs of
the sporting community.
Sporting seasons have extended as a way to
grow participation numbers and lock in people’s
commitment and interest to single sports.
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
(Demand)
Seasonal creep has seen traditional dates
moving or merging to create a situation in which
many grounds only receive one or two weeks rest
between seasons. Many sports have introduced
‘all year’ competitions, with a number of
traditional winter sports now conducting summer
competitions. Summer soccer, played on multiple
small fields with 6 players per side is a good
example of this trend.
Facilities
(Supply)
Demand being driven up by
external agenda’s
Supply meets
demand
Women and girls have in recent years embraced
traditionally male dominated sports such as
soccer. This has generated additional use of
fields for both training and competition, impacting
on sustainability. This change has also required
an increased need for change rooms that can
meet the needs for female participants and
umpires.
Participation (demand) is expanding at an
uncontrolled rate driven by different levels of
government other than local government
Across much of NSW there has been a
significant increase in the numbers of participants
across ‘traditional’ sports such as football, cricket
and particularly soccer. Relatively new or
developing sports such as Oztag, softball,
baseball and hockey are also experiencing
increases in growth.
Many sports are now developing recreational
programs held on week nights, meeting the
demand for more flexible, social, pay as you go
low commitment sports. These programs have
been successful in attracting new participants, or
expanding into Seniors Masters or Veterans
Sutherland Shire Participation Numbers and
Trends
The Sutherland Shire has a very strong ‘sporting
ethos’, which manifests itself in high levels of
sports participation in all age groups and at all
levels. The ‘Shire’ is home to many Olympians,
national and state champions, in a variety of
sports, many of whom have had their introduction
to sport on the playing fields of the Sutherland
Shire.
The Sutherland Shire has the largest junior
soccer association in NSW, the largest netball
association in NSW and the largest Oztag
Association in NSW and an available range of
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property attached to other infrastructure needs
(ie drainage easements) or none productive land.
Open space was considered low value land.
FACILITIES (supply)
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
(Demand)
The physical attributes of playing fields have a
direct influence on the capacity of the field to
sustain high levels of sports usage.
Facilities
(Supply)
Demand being driven up by
external agenda’s
The key elements of a good sports playing
surface include;
a quality growing medium,
sub surface drainage system and
an irrigation system.
Supply meets
demand
Each of these elements complements the other
and provides turf with optimum conditions for
growth and development. Council has
undertaken regular upgrading of these older type
surfaces; however the impact has been minor at
this stage due to the constraints of high usage
and water restrictions.
Active Open Space and Facilities
The active open space network aims to provide
enough capacity in the Shire to meet the
community’s
need for active recreation
opportunities.
The vision is for a shire-wide active open space
network that will be accessible to the whole
community; have enough capacity to meet the
shire’s needs and contribute to the community’s
health, social interaction and recreation needs.
Environmental Influences/Factors
In 2003 Sydney Water introduced Mandatory
water restrictions in Sydney, the Blue Mountains
and the Illawarra. These restrictions, coupled
with the ongoing drought conditions have had a
significant impact on the quality and capacity of
Council’s playing fields.
The current demand on active recreation areas is
severely testing the current capacity of council’s
facilities.
Current conditions imposed by Sydney water for watering
Across the Shire council has 120 playing
surfaces located at 60 sites each has its own
particular set of circumstances of how the site
eventually became open space. These facilities
provide an active sports surface of some 108 Ha
in area and accommodate a variety of summer
and winter sports for both male and female
participants.
sports surfaces are:
1.
Only grass surfaces can be granted exemptions. All
2.
Physical Attributes
Most Council playing fields were constructed in
the 1960’s and 70’s. Many fields were
constructed on low value land such as old tips
Anzac Oval, Oyster Bay Oval, Captain Cook
Playing Fields and with a construction
methodology that was not designed to
accommodate the high levels of utilisation
currently being experienced. Generally these
fields were levelled, a layer of topsoil applied and
then turfed. This historical construction
methodology means that the capacity of these
facilities to cope with the stress of drought and
high levels of use is over estimated.
other surfaces may not be watered at any time.
Sprinklers and watering systems may operate
from 6.00am - 9.00am and 5.00pm - 8.00pm on
Mondays only. (20mins per location)
3.
Automatic watering systems may also be
programmed to operate on active sporting fields from
1.00am - 4.00am on Mondays only.
4.
Sprinklers and watering systems may operate
immediately after the application of pesticides and
fungicides for a maximum period of one hour.
A suitable backflow prevention containment device
must be in place.
Any standpipe that is used must be metered and
issued or approved by Sydney Water.
5.
6.
The imposition of the water restrictions has had a
significant impact on Council’s capacity to
undertake regular maintenance and return the
grounds to a satisfactory condition over the
summer growing season.
Whilst water is a significant factor, the reduction
in water use alone is not the only causal factor
that is impacting on turf quality. Equally, the
physical attributes of the playing field (soil profile,
Traditionally open space contribution were
parcels of land surplus to primary needs;
property deemed too difficult for development;
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drainage, irrigation) and the level of utilisation of
the facility have a direct impact on surface
condition. These 3 factors are inter-dependent,
with the non performance in any area detrimental
to the condition of the asset. Refer Diagram 1.
An equitable water allocation for sports field
maintenance and repair based on turf
physiological needs is essential to ensure the
continuation of community sport on turf sports
surfaces.
Current Carrying Capacity - Hours of use of
playing fields
The horticultural ideal for use of a grassed
playing field varies depending on the quality of
field construction but in general is about 20-25
hours per week in winter and 40-50 hours per
week in summer.
Note; higher summer use is possible as summer
sport is less intensive on a number of sites
When use exceeds 25 hours or 50 hrs a week
the grass becomes stressed leading to a
significant wearing of the surface.
Growing Medium
and infrastructure
Utilisation
Water and Mtce
The Shire’ playing surfaces are covered in warm
season turf species that have been chosen to
withstand the environmental and high use
conditions that present as well as displaying
efficient water use. Winter sport codes cause
significant damage to sports turf when combined
with high utilisation and the lack of turf growth
during the cooler months.
Over the past decade the hours of use for winter
of playing fields within the Sutherland Shire has
increased significantly. The average hours of
use per field in the winter season for community
sport was 37.5 hours per week and an additional
9 hours per week per field for school use. The
total average hours of use at some sites is 46.5
hours. The horticultural ideal of 25 hours of use
per field a week is well exceeded at these
locations.
Historically, at the end of a normal winter season,
the Shire's sports fields are generally in poor
condition largely due to overuse on surfaces
constructed with a sub-standard growing
medium. The summer season renovations,
would usually involve activities like levelling,
topsoiling, weed control, fertilising, returfing large
barren areas plus application of water to ensure
the renovations are effective.
Continual overuse will lead to the development of
bare areas and eventually an uneven surface
which can be unsafe for play.
Sportsgrounds are the first to show the signs of
overuse, with the current level of usage
exceeding the ideal horticultural capacity by over
80%. This use is compounded by the
construction standard of many grounds and the
current regime of water restrictions that
significantly limits the capacity of grounds to
regenerate.
The annual field audit performed in July/August
each year by Council staff assesses the field
quality and then the priorities are set based on
greatest need.
All Sports field renovations are dependent on an
adequate supply of water. It has been pointless
over the last few years to undertake an massive
turf renewal program as once the turf is laid there
is only an 8 week watering window before the
taps are turned off again the grass possible dies
before usage is reinstated.
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
(Demand)
Demand being driven up by
external agenda’s
Supply meets
demand
This situation is further compounded by an
inability to shift field users to other venues due to
sites being at capacity usage.
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Facilities
(Supply)
Facilities have capacity
limitations
Challenge - INCREASING FACILITY CAPACITY
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
Facilities
(Demand)
(Supply)
Facilities
Growth Strategy
Supply meets
demand
Opportunities for Development
The capacity of active recreation facilities use can be increased through:
(1) Identification and development of new facilities;
1.1 School sites
1.2 Expansion of Existing Sites
Development of Ridge fields 9 & 10
Additional (synthetic) Hockey field at Garnet Road
1.4 Other Sites
(2) Advances in technology – Synthetic pitches
3.1 Development of regional synthetic training and playing venues
(3) Improvement of existing facilities such as:
3.1 surface quality
3.2 infrastructure improvement and extension
3.3 Water access
3.4 Reviewing any DA conditions on facilities that limited usage
(4) Development of facility maintenance standards to assist in setting capacity and
sustainability perimeters for different sites
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INCREASING FACILITY CAPACITY
(1) Identification and development of
new facilities
These include:
i.
Council has been working on a number of
initiatives to increase the number of sites for
playing sport. Council has been working closely
with the NSW Department of Education and
Training to facilitate the use of school sporting
fields after hours and on weekends by community
sporting teams.
ii.
1.1 School Sites
The development of school sporting ovals for
use by community sport needs to be
beneficial to both the school and the
community. The capacity to physically
segregate school and community use has
been identified as an important issue. Whilst
each potential site has its own specific
issues, there are a number of common
elements to any upgrade of school playing
fields to accommodate community use.
iii.
iv.
v.
These generally include Upgrade of playing surface
turf
drainage
irrigation system
facility maintenance by Council
Car park construction
floodlight installation for night training
Construction of Amenity Facilities –
toilets / change rooms etc
Tenure for the Community – The
investment of significant capital into
facility upgrades requires a
guarantee of tenure for an
appropriate period of time. This may
be in the form of a lease, licence or
other method.
Funding – Sourcing of funds to
undertake the initial development
and ongoing asset maintenance.
Liability – Identify responsibilities of
all parties.
Maintenance – Field /Structures –
Funding for ongoing field and
building maintenance. Ideally
included in formal agreement.
Development Approvals – Meeting
the requirements of, and obtaining
approvals under the appropriate
planning codes.
High Schools
Existing Use/Additional Use
1 Woolooware HS
2 fields
2 Port Hacking HS
1 field
2 fields
3 Cronulla HS
4 fields
4 Endeavour HS
3 (baseball)
5 Caringbah HS
2 (1 jnr & 1snr)
6 Kirrawee HS
1 field
7 Heathcote HS
2 field
8 Engadine HS
1 field
9 Menai HS
1 field shared
10 Jannali HS
11Sylvania HS
2 (1snr & 1 tng)
12 Gymea THS
2 fields
Sutherland Shire Council and the Department of
Education and Training have had an ongoing
positive relationship over many years in relation
to community sporting use of school facilities.
There are 19 High School facilities and 45
Primary School sites within the Sutherland Shire.
Private High Schools
1. Our Lady of Mercy College
2. De La Salle Boys College
3. St Patrick’s College
4. De La Salle Senior College
5. Inaburra HS
6. Aquinas College
7 St John Bosco
Not all schools have potential open space usage
and it is not automatically assumed that each
school is suitable or available.
The following is a list of all schools and their
potential use.
Current School Usage Arrangements
Significant use of school facilities by community
sport has occurred at 4 major school sites.
Total HS
For facility development and upgrade to occur a
number of key issues need to be addressed.
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in use
potential use
1 field
1 field
4 fields
22 fields
INCREASING FACILITY CAPACITY
1.2 Expansion of Existing Sites
Additional (synthetic) Hockey field at Garnet
Road
Development of Fields 9 & 10 The Ridge
Sports Complex
As a follow-on from the review presented by
Hockey that preferred a single location with multi
pitches, research has been undertaken into the
feasibility of establishing a second synthetic pitch
at the Sutherland Hockey Complex (Garnet Rd
Sylvania)
Two options have been considered each option
does have particular advantages and
disadvantages - opportunities and constraints
Council through a negotiated arrangement with
former Waste Services NSW has been
developing the former tip site at Barden Ridge.
The initial masterplan had been developed as
part of the overall site mediation back in the mid
1990’s. Each sport had been consulted to
ascertain their needs for the future. In the original
masterplan fields 9 & 10 where planned for the
expansion of hockey in the district.
Yellow Option – construct a second synthetic on
the existing grass hockey pitch west of the
existing field.
Issues - High Voltage Tower to the north of this
site would need to be relocated
- Close to west property boundaries
- restricted access through site may be
needed
- could move pitch further east but would
need to rebuild amenities building
Prior to commencing development Sutherland
Hockey were asked as were all other sports,
what was the preferred facility needs for there
sport, in response hockey set up a specific
forward planning group to review their preferred
position.
In mid 2006 Hockey provided a position to
council that saw hockey forgo the development of
hockey facilities at the Ridge as it would further
fragment the sport of hockey over three different
sites rather than the preferred and best option for
the sport is multi synthetic pitches at one site.
Orange Option - construct second pitch to the
north of existing synthetic pitch
Issues - existing grass hockey swap with upper
soccer pitch
- field extension required south east
corner and retaining wall built
- existing eastern carpark would need to
be redeveloped
- drainage easement between upper and
lower pitches would need to be piped
- loss of a senior cricket on upper field
Based on this information the LH1 advisory
committee suggested that fields 9&10 be
developed as general purpose grass fields. This
was endorsed by council and tenders called.
These fields should be available for winter sports
use in mid 2008.
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(2) Advancements in Technology
synthetic sports surface is only achieved when the
anticipated levels of use exceed those that a natural
turf surface can tolerate (ie. 25 hours per week).
Technology has now advanced to the point that
installing synthetic surfaces is becoming an
option for sports such as soccer and other codes.
Whilst having a high initial capital cost, the whole
of life costing (replacement every 10 years) for
this type of surface compares favourably with a
normal grass field. (synthetic surfaces can be
sand filled 1st generation -water based 2nd
generation or rubber crumb filled 3rd generation)
In an ideal world natural surfaces would abound and
water be in plentiful supply… but it is not ideal and the
next few years may well see the synthetic surface
come of age.
(Sports Turf alternatives: Synthetics come of age - 28
August 2007
Australasian Parks & Leisure By David Bruce)
With the limitation on available land within the
metro area of Sydney, synthetic surfaces on
traditional grass fields will become a way to
manage high impact high usage in high urban
areas.
A recent article appeared through the industry
publication ‘ Australasian Parks & Leisure’ that
adequately addresses the current advantages
and disadvantages of third generation synthetic
surfaces
Synthetic will not replace all grass spaces but
could be used as part of a suite of strategies,
whereby synthetic training facilities are
developed on a regional bases for high training
usage thus allowing grass pitches periods for
revival.
The evolution of synthetic grass sports surfaces has
led to the most recent, third generation products being
designed to be more natural looking and performing
most closely to natural turf of any synthetics surfaces
to date. However as these surfaces are only a recent
development little research is available on the longterm performance.
The features of synthetic sports surfaces that make
them attractive alternatives to natural turf include:
- The capacity to withstand extreme climatic
conditions, including drought, poorly lit environments
(eg. enclosed stadia), etc;
- The capacity for sustained high levels of use; and,
- The requirement for less ongoing maintenance.
Council could look at establishing 3 or 4 synthetic
facilities at different points throughout the Shire to
cater for high intense use for regional training or
where high club numbers have limited alternate
field options in the vicinity.
(3) Improvement of existing facilities
3.1 surface quality
(new turf, growing medium, etc);
Further, Smart Connection Company’s detailed
analysis of the features of synthetic sports surfaces
shows:
- Synthetic turf requires a lower investment for
maintenance in time and cost than natural turf;
- Surface damage (ie. burns or cuts) can be easily
repaired;
cost of ownership for both natural and synthetic
surfaces over a 10 and 25 year period and the general
conclusions from the cost comparisons are:
§ Synthetic surfaces are only slightly more expensive
to construct / install although surface replacement is
more expensive;
§ Synthetic surfaces are cheaper to maintain than
natural turf;
§ Synthetic surfaces need to be replaced every 6 to 8
years whereas the life span of a natural turf surface is
indefinite (industry standards suggest resurfacing
somewhere around 15 years.
§ Although the total cost of ownership of synthetic
surfaces is comparable with the highest standard
natural turf sports surface, synthetic surfaces are
capable of withstanding significantly higher level of
usage.
From an economic perspective the viability of a
3.2 infrastructure improvement and extension
(irrigation, lighting, dressing rooms, public toilets,
park furniture, fencing, etc.)
3.3 Water Access
(negotiation with Sydney Water)
3.4 Review current DA conditions that restrict
reasonable usage on facilities.
Theses improvement strategies are an ongoing
process that would be developed initially by
internal stakeholders for discussion with user
groups.
(4) Development of facility maintenance
standards.
Works undertaken on the above issue need to
be captured and used for improved operating
standards for setting carrying capacities and
sustainability perimeters for different sites.
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Challenge - Demand Redistribution/Reduction Strategy
Demand v Supply Model
Participation
Facilities
(Demand)
(Supply)
Facilities
Growth Strategy
Supply meets
demand
Use Reduction
Strategy
1. Introduce a field ranking system for guiding sustainable hours of use.
2. Cap usage hours per site based on structural capacity of the field infrastructure
3. Rotate higher impact sports across various sites
4. Development of field use guides to manage drought conditions
a. Sports to revert back to traditional seasons
b. Sports Season alignment with school holidays (NSROC)
c.
Shorten seasons
d. Introduce compulsory breaks between seasons (summer & winter) for maintenance and
regrowth.
e.
No make up games if cancelled due to wet weather
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Challenge – Funding
Funding Sources
Local Government is not the primary driver of increases in participation (demand) and is therefore not
proactively planning to meet agendas being pursued by other parties. These agendas are ‘well meaning’ in
nature however the outcomes are vague and not quantifiable at a local level.
A further criticism raised during the ‘NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Sports ground Management’ was
that planning for sports is uncoordinated there are disparate management practices and a lack of
consistent data collection to assist in any form of planning. The Inquiry made 15 recommendations based
on the 75+ submissions received. The NSW Cabinet response to the inquiry recommendations has not
provided a positive way forward and it appears that the industry and Local Government have been
abandon once again.
The Federal Government is actively encouraging participation, no Federal grant programs currently exist to
support facility construction or enhancement. At a State level, the NSW Department of Sport and
Recreation has two grant programs designed to support the construction of sport and recreation facilities.
The Regional Facilities Program provides funding of up to $400,000 (Grant $200,000) on a dollar for dollar
basis for major sporting facilities of regional significance.
The Capital Assistance Program provides funding on a dollar for dollar basis towards the development of
sporting facilities. The average grant under this program is approximately $10,000. Council and many
community sporting organisations have been successful in obtaining funding under this program.
A comparison has been made between States to illustrate the support received
Agency
Sport and Recreation
Queensland
Sport and Recreation
Queensland
Office for Recreation
and Sport (SA)
NSW Sport and
Recreation
NSW Sport and
Recreation
Office of Sport and
Recreation (Tas)
Department of Sport and
Recreation (WA)
Office of Sport and
Recreation (NT)
Sport and Recreation
Victoria
Sport and Recreation
Victoria
Programs
Major Facilities Program
Maximum
Assistance
$1 million
Value per
annum
$10 million
Population
2003
3,730,000
Allocation /prorata/population
$5.36
National Standards Facilities
Program
Community Recreation and Sports
Facility Program
Regional Sports Facility Program
No limit
$10 million
$150,000
$3.4 million
1,520,000
$2.23
$400,000
$2.2 million
6,660,000
$0.93
Capital Assistance Program
$50,000
$4 million
$1.2 million
470,000
$2.55
$9 million
1,930,000
$4.66
$1 million
197,000
$5.07
$4 million
4,880,000
$2.45
Facilities and Open Space
$100,000
Development Program
Community Sporting and Recreation $1.5 million
Facilities Fund
(over 3 years)
Facility Development Grants
$150,000
Program
(over 3 years)
Community Facilities Funding
No limit
Program Major Facilities Category
Community Facilities Funding
No limit
Program Better Pools Category
$8 million
Whilst the NSW S&R grants are a source of funding, these programs are totally inadequate, both the terms
the quantum of funds available and the flexibility in their application. Grants are allocated on a per
electorate basis for the Capital Assistance Program. The cumulative funds available, combining the
allocation to the 3 electorates in Sutherland Council area would result in approximately $120,000 being
available. These funds would not even enable a small public toilet block to be constructed. The grants
allocated in NSW is even worse when compared to other states, most notably Queensland and Victoria
who provided greater funding for a variety of programs that actually facilitate the growth and development
of the industry.
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Community sporting groups have indicated a willingness to assist Council in the development of facilities
and Council has a long history of partnering community sport in the development of many facilities.
The major responsibility for the development of new facilities primarily rests with Council. Funding sources
include capital works funding as part of annual budget allocation or the utilisation of Section 94 funds.
These funds are typically tied to specific areas and may or may not be a viable option depending upon the
rate of accumulation of funds and the specifics of the plan under which the funds were collected. In
general, S94 funds are linked to the geographical area in which the funds were collected and not
necessarily related to immediate demand or opportunity. Whilst Council may have a pool of funds
accumulated under s94 contribution, the specifics of the plan under which it was collected limits the
application of these funds.
Sutherland Shire Council in January 2005 adopted a Shire - Wide Open Space and Recreation Facilities
S94 plan. This plan in part has been developed to address a number of issues associated with open space
provision.
The current section 94 funds under the Shire Wide Open Space & Recreation facilities plan could be
seriously compromised by the proposed changes to the section 94 legislation. Announcements have been
made with details on impacts to follow.
Any further restrictions in funding sources or revenue raising capacity will place Local Government under
further pressure.
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