City approves Portarlington masterplan

A $10 MILLION revamp of Portarlington Recreation Reserve facilities has received planning approval.

The City of Greater Geelong ticked off on a master plan for the precinct at last week’s council meeting, which will deliver a host of upgrades to recreation facilities to cater for expected growth at Portarlington in coming decades.

An upgrade of the main football club pavilion is a blue-chip project, with an estimated cost of $1.5 million.

An upgrade for lighting and a surface upgrade at western tennis courts ($442,000) and netball projects ($670,000) for an extended pavilion, warm-up court, spectator seating and surface improvements are also in the pipeline.

The plan also includes $2 million for a system of sediment ponds and wetland pools at the southern end of the reserve, as part of a package of works to address environmental and biodiversity risks, which the masterplan lists as the most significant risk for the project.

The total list of projects is worth $10.6 million, which brings the total cost of the masterplan to

$16.3 million, after contingency, site preparation, services, demolition, and consultancy.

A council report said Portarlington’s population had grown to more than 4000 in recent years and was on track to go past 5000 by 2030.

The recreation reserve has almost 1200 active users across Portarlington’s football, netball, cricket and tennis clubs, and even more passive use as the town’s largest open-space area around its sporting facilities.

COGG has allocated more than $1 million in its 2022-23 budget for the masterplan and said it would investigate allocating more funds in future budgets to deliver the tranche of works.

Deputy mayor Trent Sullivan said he was was pleased to progress the project.

“The city understands the importance of providing facilities that support community participation,” Cr Sullivan said.

“With so many varying interests within the Portarlington community, it’s exciting to be able to ensure that the residents’ tastes in recreation, whether passive or active, are able to be catered for.”