By Derek Schlennstedt
The Olinda Precinct Plan is moving ahead.
The State Government’s Parks Victoria has lodged a planning permit application to Yarra Ranges Council to develop a minor sports and recreation facility, including vegetation removal.
The application includes detailed plans of an AFL-sized oval, an arboriculture assessment and a biodiversity assessment report.
So far, Parks Victoria has indicated construction could take up to six months.
The addition of the oval has long been part of the proposed Olinda Precinct Plan and will respond to the growth of local sporting groups.
The Mail spoke to Hilltop Recreation Association president Ben Selby, who represents many of the sporting groups in Olinda including the Olinda-Ferny Creek Junior Football Club.
He said that over the past four years the juniors had grown from two and half to eight teams following an explosion in girl’s football.
“The reality is as the population grows there’s a greater demand on these facilities, so we need to keep moving forward with the demand, and that demand is for a second oval,” he said.
“Four years ago we had no girl’s teams and in 2016 we had our first two teams and that’s now increased to four.
“We have to roster on times to use the oval…on a Wednesday night there are six teams vying for ground space.”
The plan to build on the former golf site has also garnered criticism from local community groups including The Hills Common Alliance, concerned about parking, noise and the environmental impact.
The Hills Common Alliance spokeswoman Jenny Oxer said a compromise between the group and Parks Victoria was met last year, and the group had since been under the impression that a smaller oval would be built.
She said the group was not anti-football or anti-sport and invited people to their information night at the Olinda Hall on 14 August.
“The main major thing we are trying to do is let the wider community know what is happening with this space,” Ms Oxer said.
“The compromise was to be an informal or minor sporting oval in the corner of the land near the swimming pool.
“It really is huge and going to go across the three top fairways, right across the flat land which is totally different to what in consultation we thought was a reasonable compromise.”
According to a Parks Victoria planning report the oval is 155 metres by 120 metres.
The report also has the support of VicRoads who advised that “no changes are required to the access and car parking arrangements as part of the stage one works”.
Parks Victoria chief operating officer Simon Talbot told the Mail that no work would “commence until after the planning permit has been received by Yarra Ranges Council” and that the final size of the oval was “determined based on several environmental and cultural assessments”.
“The Olinda Golf Course Precinct Plan 2017 recommended a sports oval for junior sport and play, and made reference to AFL football,” he said.
“The precinct plan was developed to reflect the results of community and stakeholder consultation, and did not determine a specific size.
“Parks Victoria endeavoured to strike a balance between providing an adequately-sized field for junior sport and play that meets AFL club standards, while reducing it down from the size recommended in the AFL guidelines to ensure as little disturbance to native and significant vegetation as possible.”
Mr Talbot also made note of the environmental impact and said only 4.9 percent of trees within the precinct site would be removed.
