What is different about the SSRP from local sporting facilities?

The SSRP is a distinct regional facility compared to those used by our local grassroots sporting clubs. It is maintained to a semi-professional standard, which requires a higher level of maintenance and, therefore greater costs than a typical local club level sporting ground.

This elevated standard is what enabled the SSRP to secure the rights to host the Gather Round in 2023 and 2024.  The Gather Round is an economic development and tourism drawcard, hence the support that we received from the State Government to host the games that we held.

In its everyday form, the SSRP is a semi-professional sporting facility, and some level of cost recovery is expected for its use. However, there is no expectation for full cost recovery.  An approach of user pays is adopted for the SSRP to reflect its higher operating costs and to reflect that this facility is different from local sporting facilities.

As a council we provide support and subsidisation for both the semi-professional and grassroots sporting clubs and their playing surfaces across our district.

We have is what’s called a hierarchy of different standards of sporting facilities so that we can cater for pathways in sport.

All sporting grounds cannot be maintained at the same level as the SSRP, they are maintained to the standards as deemed required for the individual sports and the particular level of those sports.

Grassroots local sporting clubs are an essential part of our community.  In light of this, we have been meeting with regional recreation ground committees over recent months to better understand their priorities and needs. We are actively working with local clubs and recreation ground committees to ensure that local needs and service levels at their home grounds are central to our planning and support for sport and recreation for our community.

A key early win of this engagement is the recent decision to increase the turf subsidy for regional sporting committees to help cover the rising costs of maintaining their grounds. This has been well received by local clubs.