THE new site chosen to replace the abandoned sporting facility proposal at the Delta landfill site in Heatherton must be able to cater for a wide range of sports, council says.
The Heatherton site had been earmarked to become a regional sporting facility, and form part of the chain of parks project. It will now be used for train stabling to support the state government’s suburban rail loop project.
After assessing the environmental impacts of the rail loop, the state government has committed to investigating sites to replace the planned Heatherton public space.
Kingston acting mayor Jenna Davey-Burns says that the replacement site must be able to cater for “a wide range of sporting needs, including football, cricket, soccer, hockey, baseball, cycling and more.”
“For years our community had been looking forward to extensive sporting facilities being delivered on the Delta site in Kingston’s Green Wedge. We need an urgent solution to provide much needed female-friendly and regional sporting facilities to meet growing demand,” she said.
“Now that the outcomes of the environmental effects statement are clear we expect this to be the highest of priorities for the state government.”
Council has demanded that the replacement site is equivalent or greater in size than the Heatherton landfill site, and not fragmented. The Heatherton site is 34 hectares. Council also wants the site to be near public transport, fit for sporting fields and buildings, promptly acquired, and to be accommodating of existing agriculture activities.
Earlier this month environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio wrote in a report that “the loss of the potential” for the Heatherton site to be used as open space “is significant”. “In terms of timing, the intention should be to deliver the open space prior to the operation of the stabling facility,” she wrote (“Chain of park site must be replaced soon – report”, The News, 17/8/22).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 24 August 2022
