Redland City Council has begun a search for land for new sports grounds, after studies showed the city has a shortage of suitable space to meet residents’ recreational needs.
As previously reported in the Bulletin in 2015, the city’s sporting facilities are at breaking point, with clubs forced to share facilities and even turn away some members due to a lack of space.
Mayor Karen Williams said council adopted a resolution last year to buy grounds for more sporting facilities and was beginning the process of acquiring appropriate parcels of land.
She said council wanted to talk with landowners who might be interested in selling their property for sports parks.
“The search for land has been on our agenda for a long time and now we are looking for the right piece of property that will serve the needs of the community,” Cr Williams said.
Council is looking for all different sized blocks, such as three or more adjoining 10ha to 20ha blocks as well as single blocks of 100ha-plus.
“The land needs to be mainly flat, largely cleared and on a main road with good access and plenty of road frontage,’’ Cr Williams said.
“The bulk of the land should be flood-free and not need significant earth moving.”
Cr Williams said council was also assessing sites that were being under-utilised, like Victoria Point State High School.
“We’re looking at what facilities we already have in the region and whether we can partner together with those organisations to provide even more options for our sporting clubs,” she said.
Cr Williams said providing adequate space would help attract younger generations to live and work in the region.
“We see too many people between the ages of 19 and 35 leave the Redlands, so by offering more recreational options it can only help retain locals and entice people who want to raise a family to the area,” she said.
She said no specific clubs would be in mind when looking for new land and once the land had been acquired, the organisations that could best use the space would be able to apply for its use.