A MASTER plan for a huge sporting precinct at Mount Cotton has been adopted but councillors have been quick to emphasise that it is a jumping off point, amid angst from clubs whose sports have not been included.
The Redlands Coast Sporting and Recreation Precinct, to be set on 159 hectares of land at Heinemann Road, has been in the works since council bought the property in mid-2017.
Councillors had to approve the plan by May 31 to meet grant obligations, after the state government contributed $100,000 for master planning in 2018.
It provides for 17 playing fields, nearly three kilometres of cycling tracks, BMX tracks, hundreds of parking spaces and new facilities like clubhouses.
The plan also has designated land for conservation and areas for picnic spaces and playgrounds.
Cr Wendy Boglary said there had been angst from various clubs who would not be able to make use of the new facility.
"We're not going to be able to fit everything in that we were hoping we could," she said.
Council would continue to work with these clubs to identify their needs and how they could be met.
Mayor Karen Williams said the plan was one step in providing more sports facilities for the community.
"In addition to investing in this new facility we have also been identifying other suitable land for sport and recreation facilities, with a report to be presented to council in the future," she said.
"For the sports proposed to be accommodated at the Heinemann Road precinct, this is an opportunity to experience new facilities that will allow them to grow and host large carnivals and events.
"For clubs remaining at their existing homes, it will be a chance to reconfigure and grow, with more space available as other clubs and sports move to the new Heinemann Road fields."
Cr Paul Golle said the need for extra sporting facilities had been growing for decades.
He said council needed to get its strategic planning right.
"Over the last 20 to 30 years ... Blind Freddie could have seen with the amount of development in this city that we needed more sporting land," he said.
"Now we're playing catch-up.
"We have an investment land to take care of a ... deficit of sporting land, and now we discover that's probably not going to be enough and we have to bring another report to look at purchasing possibly further land.
"When does it stop?"
Division 6 Cr Julie Talty said there had been a 40 per cent shortfall in the space needed to provide for all the sporting activities in the Redlands.
"Although this land cannot address this whole deficit, it's going a good way to address part of it," she said.
"This is a vision, it's a goal ... but it's not set in concrete."