belgrave south masterplan gets the tick

Inspecting the Belgrave South Recreation Reserve after a
re-seeding in 2009. It will be great to see the masterplan
progress, this is such a well loved and used reserve.

At last week's council meeting, council unanimously endorsed the Belgrave South Master Plan. It was a great step in what has been an extensive journey.

The masterplan was the formalisation of the community effort to determine the next steps for the improvement and enhancements at the Belgrave South Recreation Reserve.

This reserve is much loved by the community, in fact 83% of community members who responded to council's survey had recently used the reserve. What was really pleasing to see was the amount of passive recreation use there, so many more people use the reserve for walking and playing rather than organised sport.  

Some of the key recommendations include:

• Upgrading the current sporting facilities including the expansion of the size of the oval to meet senior club dimensions
• Consolidating club rooms and change room facilities into a new integrated facility
• Upgrading the playing surface, lighting and drainage for the netball courts
• Developing the reserve as part of a network of open space with better linkages on site and off site trail connections
• Improving the functionality of the internal road network and carparking
• Upgrading the playground and barbeque area
• Developing better landscapes and path network within the site

The masterplan provides a robust strategic framework to pitch to other tiers of government to access funding and also provides a basis for works to be referred to the Shire's Capital Works program.

I thank the community members for their efforts, there's no doubting they are passionate about their reserve. I look forward to seeing the masterplan come to fruition in the future.