I am writing to provide you with an update on the report that was presented at the 15 September 2020 Ordinary Meeting of Council regarding item 10.7 Bayside Netball Centre – Update on Negotiations with Victorian School Building Authority. As Chief Executive Officer, I will respond on behalf of Council.

I appreciate the time you have taken to provide feedback on this matter. There has been significant community interest in this proposal, which was considered at the aforementioned meeting, where it was resolved:

That Council:

1.enters into a Development Agreement with the Victorian School Building Authority with in principle support for the project provided by the State Government for the establishment of two indoor sporting courts, nine outdoor sporting courts and an outdoor sporting surface at the Sandringham College, Holloway Road campus, with a funding contribution of up to $15 million and approves the Chief Executive Officer to sign this agreement;

2.negotiates a Community Joint Use Agreement for the project and submits this draft agreement to a future Council meeting;

3. immediately commences consultation with local residents on methods of minimising localised impacts from light spill, noise, traffic and parking including consideration of a resident only parking scheme, utilisation of parking at the Wangara Road site and alternative bus access;

4. receives a report at a future Council Meeting on options for funding works that mitigate traffic and parking issues in the precinct;

5. works with the Victorian School Building Authority to ensure the design of the proposed facility minimises the impacts of local residential amenity;

6. notes the importance of the Bay Road Heathland Sanctuary adjacent to the school site and ensures that this project is developed in a manner which protects and where possible enhances the biodiversity values of the Sanctuary;

7.engages and consults with Sandringham District Netball Association and Netball Victoria throughout the project; and

8.notes that if this project proceeds that the Wangara Road Netball Centre project would not take place.

We are in the preliminary phase of working through the details and concept design of this project and will be engaging with residents throughout the process to ensure any impacts like traffic, parking, noise and light spill are minimised.

As part of the concept planning process Council is already discussing with the Victorian School Building Authority several initiatives to minimise impacts in each of these areas. These include linking the site with the car park at Wangara Reserve and enhancing the linkage via pedestrian improvements and considering pedestrian crossings, maintaining the road closure between Holloway Road and Wangara Road but seeking to have the site accessible from both ends for community sport, integrating landscaping to minimise visual impacts and assist with noise reduction, planning the overall site layout to minimise visual impacts, designing the indoor courts to minimise noise, further integrating the site for walking and cycling and designing lighting to minimise light spill.

As a preliminary stage of consultation, we have created a Have Your Say page and are asking you to submit any questions and suggestions you have about this project and the steps we can take to minimise any impacts. This page is available at bayside.vic.gov.au/HaveYourSay and we will seek to respond to you as information becomes available.

Residents directly impacted by the proposal will receive notification of the opportunity to provide more formal feedback in the coming months.

Stay informed

To register your interest to be kept informed about this project, click subscribe at the top of the project page as we will continue to upload more information here as the project progresses.

Mick Cummins

Chief Executive Officer