by Shane Sody

A new sports building off Goodwood Road in Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West) has moved a step closer.

Kadaltilla / Park Lands Authority has approved a "concept plan" for a new two-storey building to replace an existing brick shed.

The Authority was told that the existing building does not meet contemporary community sports requirements and has some structural defects.

Both the building and the adjacent sports fields are used by many different sporting groups including SA Flying Disc Association, Sturt Street Community School, Gaelic Football, Glenunga Football Club, Reclink Australia (sports program for vulnerable people), Concordia College, SAPSASA (primary school sport) and many SANFL and AFL run programmes for juniors, women, and multicultural groups.

The ACSARA netball club also utilises the existing building when playing on the courts across Goodwood Road in the adjacent Park 22.

ACSARA estimates that approximately 1,320 players and 34,834 people in total, including officials and supporters, currently visit the facilities each year.

Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West) lies between Goodwood Road and Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue in the south-western part of your Park Lands.

This Park is divided diagonally into two halves - with native vegetation re-generating in the south-eastern half, and sporting fields dominating the north-western half.

The proposal for a new community sports building is part of a wider plan for Park 21W. In recent years, planning for this Park has come before the City Council twice (2018 and 2020).

The main issues of contention were the proposed footprint of any new building, and how many car parking spaces would be permitted on the park. At first, up to 150 car parks were envisaged, later revised down to 112.

In a significant win for your Park Lands, the concept plan now endorsed by Kadaltilla / Park Lands Authority has now ruled out any car parking area within the Park at all. The plan envisages that people attending sports events in Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21W) will find sufficient car parking spaces on the surrounding roads, most likely Goodwood Road or South Terrace.

The concept plan also specifies that the new building cannot have a footprint any larger than the existing building (i.e. 465 square metres). The drawings presented to Kadaltilla Park Lands Authority suggest the footprint of the new building would be 405 square metres, although the area of the upper floor (incorporating an overhanging balcony for viewing sport) would be the full permitted size of 465 square metres.

A public toilet would be provided on the ground floor.

At the Authority's meeting on Thursday 28 July, architect Dimity Andersen advised that up to four trees might need to be removed to make way for the new building, but this was fewer than the number that would have been affected by earlier plans for a larger building.

Now that Kadaltilla/ Park Lands Authority has endorsed the concept, ACSARA will further develop and refine these drawings into detailed plans, that is expected to be presented early in 2023 to both the Authority and the City Council, seeking approval of both the formal building plans, and a 21-year lease of the site.

Assuming the City Council gives the go-ahead, then a process of formal public consultation would commence soon afterwards.