Committee for Lorne – NEW PROJECTS AT STRIBLING RESERVE

In 2017, the Master Plan for Stribling Reserve was updated.

The process was carried out under a new governance model, fully supported by Surf Coast Shire, under which the community of Lorne took ownership of the project through Committee for Lorne.

This process resulted in a new master plan involving considerable community input and feedback and a clear vision that Stribling Reserve was a key community asset.

The new master plan was adopted by Council and several projects were identified as priorities to ensure that Stribling Reserve delivered on community expectations.

Several projects have already been completed:
• Ventilation of the indoor stadium
• New pathway linking the Leisure Centre to the netball court and new viewing areas
• New cooking equipment installed in the kitchen

There are three exciting new projects under way which will provide vastly improved facilities for footballers and spectators alike.

LIGHTING WORKS
Stribling Reserve is Lorne’s major active open space recreation facility, and Lorne Football Netball Club (LFNC) is the town’s oldest and largest recreational club.

The club holds nine regular season home games at Stribling Reserve, and a marquee round on Easter Saturday where no other games are played within the league. The Easter weekend fixture is a major event attracting up to 5,000 spectators.

Whilst the netball court and playing surface of the oval have been upgraded in recent years the oval lighting is now 25 years old and approaching the end of its useful life. One of the four existing poles has already been removed for safety reasons, with temporary lighting being provided in that location from a trailer mounted light. This has led to inconsistent lighting levels across the oval that don’t achieve the required standard.

The G21 AFL Barwon Strategy rated the current sports lighting at Stribling Reserve a five out of 15 with a recommendation for immediate upgrade. The Stribling Reserve Master Plan (2017) identified the installation of lighting, rated at 200 lux, as a Category 1 action. The project is supported by the federal government ($200,000) and the state government ($100,000). Council sent information about the project to local residents in March 2018.

The project will deliver an upgrade of the power supply to Stribling Reserve, including consolidation of two supply points into one single supply, to power new lighting and the electronic scoreboard. Underground electrical works within the reserve will connect all buildings and services to the single supply located at the Leisure Centre.

The project entails removal of existing light towers and associated connections and installation of four new light towers with sufficient lighting to achieve 200 lux lighting for the oval. There will be two 35-metre towers and two 32-metre
towers, designed to minimise impact of light spill to adjoining properties. A new switchboard and lighting controllers will
provide the capability to switch lights between 50, 100 and 200 lux.

The design is complete and a package of works involving the installation of sport lighting towers and footings has been tendered and awarded.

Completion of these works is expected in May 2019. A further package of works involving the supply and installation of conduits, cables and switchboards is to be tendered in February with completion also expected in May.

The new lighting may also be used when Stribling Reserve is used as an Emergency Staging Area.

SCOREBOARD WORKS
In addition to the sports lighting works, the Stribling Reserve Master Plan identified installation of an electronic
scoreboard as a Category 1 action. The existing manual scoreboard has historic value to the club, but does not have the capabilities of modern sports scoreboards in use at venues throughout the country. The new scoreboard will provide a high quality display of game information, as well as the means to stream sports footage, spectator messages, advertising and sponsor communications.

The project includes installation of a new four metre high, seven metre wide electronic scoreboard structure situated adjacent to the existing scoreboard to minimise visual impact. Council are providing the scoreboard structure,
whilst the Lorne Football Netball Club is providing the screen and operational components.

All works tenders have been awarded with installation expected in late March/early April. The scoreboard is expected to be used during game days and can also be used for scoring other gamesincluding cricket. It may also be used when Stribling Reserve is used as an Emergency Staging Area.

RENEWAL OF VIEWING TERRACES
An audit in 2018 identified the need to renew the existing timber viewing terraces. This project will involve the demolition of the existing terraces and construction of new ones and renewal of the existing timber retaining wall in front of the main
pavilion and the addition of an access ramp from the pavilion to the oval. The ramp will be DDA compliant, meaning it meets guidelines specified in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.

Detailed design is now complete. Construction works are expected to be completed in April/May.

As part of these partnership projects, Council will be providing details to the community via letterbox drops, direct emails to stakeholders, information on Council’s website and social media, and communication in local media.

For further information on the Stribling Reserve Upgrade Works, contact Council’s Project Manager, Kane Rogozik on 5261 0588 or via email [email protected] Stribling Reserve Committee of Management