The first stage of our Community Assets Review has been completed and the committee is preparing a report for council to consider. This report will advise Council of the results of the primary stakeholder consultation and the committees recommendations for going forward.

All the clubs have been consulted and we believe we know reasonably well how they see their future’s and their plans for the future. The clubs were invited recently to one of two BBQs we organised to thank them for their participation in the consultation. This was valuable exercise as we (and in particular the elected members of the committee, Mayor Clyne, Cr Salaman and myself) got to hear first hand the issues facing the clubs.

There will be a number of recommendations put to council directed at the use of our facilities by these clubs.

We will also be recommending a path forward for consulting the larger community who want and need to access our open spaces, and maybe our buildings. The larger community is you and me. We all need to get a benefit from our parks and gardens. This process will take us through August to October, allowing us to put a proposal to Council in November or December.

At this early stage it looks like we will be heading down the path of preparing master plans for both sites in Goodwood South; Goodwood Oval and the Millswood Sporting Complex. The same will apply in the eastern side of the City at Unley Oval. And yes that is likely to mean we will not see anything physically happening at any of the venues for some time, meaning leases to the various clubs should not be seen as in jeopardy.

Let’s face it, we are looking at how our assets may be employed not next year but 5 years from now, 10 years from now; indeed 20 years from now.