Council secures land for sports fields
Council has purchased 6.6 hectares of land in Cambridge west and earmarked it for an active recreation area including a new cricket pitch and oval as well as two new winter sports grounds.
The land is in addition to land already purchased by Council for a new neighbourhood destination playground in the same area.
Some of the recently purchased land at 397 Grasslands Drive will also be used for roads and stormwater drainage needed to support the new urban area known as the C2 growth cell. That cell, now under construction on Cambridge Road, will eventually hold 2,500 houses. When complete it will include different types of housing, the Ryman Retirement Village, a new primary school and neighbourhood shops.
Council says the land purchase was always planned to support Cambridge’s growth. Group manager growth and regulatory services Wayne Allan said the existing structure plan for the area called for sports fields in the housing development. A structure plan is created before any land is developed to determine how an area will look and where everything will go.
“Green space is hugely important and that is recognised in all of our long-term planning,” Allan said.
“Specifically, this land has been tagged for sports fields because Council’s community services team has identified a shortage of sports fields in Cambridge, particularly for winter codes. But the area purchased will also allow for roads, swales and other infrastructure needed to support new housing.”
Allan said full development of the sports fields would be at least three years away. Securing land was just the first step in the process. Funding to pay for the development will need to be budgeted as part of Council’s next 10-Year Plan.
The land purchased in Grasslands Drive by Council will be funded by development contributions. Development contributions from developers help pay for new infrastructure, meaning growth pays for growth. Under the sale and purchase agreement, the existing landowner can lease the land back for three years from the agreement. The price paid for the land is commercially sensitive and will not be disclosed.
