Sharing the key in precinct plan

Facilities that promote flexible community sharing will be the primary focus in planning for a central Horsham sport, recreation and lifestyle precinct.

Horsham Rural City Council chief executive Sunil Bhalla said plans based on a long-term vision needed to embrace ideas of a shared future as well as progress and renewal.

He stressed that Horsham’s ability to attract government financial help to plan for and provide quality facilities into the future would come down to how well the municipality could demonstrate how its plans reflected maximum community use. “This principle applies to everything that the city owns and manages. Money is tight,” he said.

“Creating facilities for the future is about sharing facilities, because they are expensive to build and operate.

“If we are to build or invest in something it has to be for everyone and while we have priority user groups at certain venues, it is about everyone being flexible enough to accommodate everyone.”

The council has identified the precinct as an area between Horsham Showground and Horsham lawn tennis courts on the north side of the Wimmera River that spreads into Horsham’s shopping heart. It is busy exploring development options as part of a Cbd-river Precinct Project, which it has scheduled to be complete by May to April.

Major assets

The precinct includes several major council sporting assets including Horsham Basketball Stadium, Horsham City Oval, Horsham Aquatic Centre, Horsham Botanic Gardens and Horsham lawn tennis courts.

The site of a proposed and controversial multi-million dollar indoor sports stadium at Horsham Showground is also in the precinct.

Mr Bhalla said the council had pushed ‘pause’ on stadium development to get a clearer and broader overall picture of recreation issues and needs in the area.

But he stressed the council ultimately had a duty to move forward and develop facilities that maximised community use.

“We’ve done a number of studies and what we’re doing now is pulling all studies together to create an overarching vision and concept plan – to revitalise the whole precinct,” he said.

“Much of it is about renewal of dated infrastructure, but there are also a lot of properties lying vacant and we’re looking at how we can use them as catalyst sites for more investment and jobs.

“When it comes to the stadium, I believe concerns can be managed and are not insurmountable and that it can fit in with an overall vision.

“Obviously the biggest project in the precinct is the stadium and that starts with a vision and concept plan that in a six-month process establishes direction, size and scope as part of an overall direction.

“Clearly there is a definite need for a new indoor sports stadium in Horsham.

“Broadly, other facilities, such as Horsham City Oval need to be the subject of a renewal program.”