Project Progress

February 2021

At the Council meeting held on 1 February 2021, Council considered recommendations regarding the facility formerly known as the Mt Barker regional sports hub.

Council resolved to support the recommendation to name the facility Summit Sport and Recreation Park.  

Look out for information on the Summit Sport and Recreation Park as the facility is activated and open to the public  https://www.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/discover/recreation/summit-sport-and-recreation-park.

Thank you for your interest in this exciting stage of bringing the Summit Sport and Recreation Park to life!

April 2020

We now have a project photo gallery. Have a look at the latest progress photos on the gallery tab.

December 2019

16 December 2019 - The Buildings Construction Contract was considered at the Special Council Meeting held on 16 December 2019 following the recent building design review process led by Marc Voortman, General Manager, Planning and Development and John Ashcroft, BeyondInk.

To seek:

• Authorisation of the amended Mount Barker regional sports hub stage 1 scope and budget to include portion 2, buildings; and
• The award of contract 2018.006, Regional Sports Hub Stage 1 Construction, Separable Portion 2 (buildings).

Recent report(s) to council on the project can be found on the Council meetings page.

5 December 2019 - Earthworks have begun on the regional sports hub to remove the topsoil preparing the area for the oval and soccer field. This is expected to continue until the Christmas break after which, the topsoil will be loaded into trucks and moved to various sites in early 2020.

The images show the process of removing the top soil with a Land Plane and Water Cart.

Works to begin on multi-million dollar regional sports hub

Preparations for stage 1 of the regional sports hub on the Council land at Springs Road, have continued with handover of the site to Sarah Constructions.

Sarah Constructions will have responsibility for the site until practical completion scheduled to occur in late 2020. As the site will be under-construction, they will install perimeter fencing and control all access to the site.

Works will include traffic management on Springs Road during the construction of the regional sports hub entrance and associated turning lanes. Activity on and around the site  will also include a large number of truck movements to remove surplus spoil site which may result in traffic delays on Springs Road for periods of time.

Sarah Constructions intended maximum days and hours of work per week are Monday – Saturday, 7am – 5pm.

Stage 1 construction is supported by $14.6 million in grant funding and in-kind support from the Australian Government through the Community Development Grants Programme, Building Better Regions Fund, the South Australian Government, Football Federation South Australia, Australian Football League, South Australian National Football League, Cricket Australia and the South Australian Cricket Association.

Should you have any concerns during construction please contact Council’s Customer Service Centre on 8391 7200.

Update November 2019

Council made a strategic decision many years ago to purchase the land on the corner of Bald Hills Road and Springs Road to accommodate the planned increase in the district’s population to 60,000 people. Council further made the decision to build a sports facility on the site and invest over $20M into improving community wellbeing. These decisions retain open community space and outweighed other possible alternatives including the land being purchased by developers for further housing estates.

At a Special Council meeting on Monday 14 October Council awarded the construction contract to commence portion 1 of stage 1 of the Regional sports Hub to Sarah Constructions Pty Ltd.

This month, to prepare the land for construction, planned and approved work to remove four significant trees from their current location on the site of the Regional Sports Hub off Springs Road commenced.

Three of the trees were in areas identified for playing areas and infrastructure in the Regional Sports Hub.

The terrain and existing infrastructure, as well as sighting and orientation required for sports fields, restricted the location of the Springs Road entry point to the site which resulted in the loss of the fourth tree.

Endorsed Site Layout + Minor Variations (click for larger image)

Because they were full of natural habitat due to existing hollows, three of the trees have been relocated elsewhere on the site near two of the remaining trees (indicated by the arrows in the Site layout).

As the root systems have not been included in the relocation, these trees will decline and die but the wildlife habitats will be preserved.

In relocating the three trees, the trunks have been buried 3 – 5 metres below the surface of the ground. Most of the weight of the trees is, therefore, underground ensuring that they do not topple in high winds.

One of the trees removed was relatively young and was not bearing numerous existing habitats. The timber from this tree has been cut for landscape logs which will be used at the site.

Hollows will be added to the relocated trees to attract birds and wildlife, including bats, owls, ducks, parrots, pardalotes, nightjars and possums.

The understory at the new location of the trees along with the two existing living gums will be replanted with rare and remnant native vegetation to create a protected biodiversity exclosure.

The land around the new location has suffered from rural decline and the revegetation process will improve the health of the living trees in the vicinity.

Over 200 additional trees will be planted in stage 1 as indicated in the Landscape Diagram.

Council are proactive with tree plantings. In the past 4 years approximately 45,000 locally indigenous trees, shrubs, grasses and ground covers have been planted by Council, with the assistance of community members.

Landscape Diagram (click for larger image)

A rigorous process of investigations and approvals preceded this work:

Process Plan (click for larger image)

In early 2018, an Environmental Impact Study formally identified 7 significant trees and other environmental fauna and flora on the site.

A Cultural Heritage Study was completed at the same time and, in consultation with traditional owners, confirmed that the 7 trees had ‘no signs of cultural modification’.

In February 2018, Oxigen was appointed as the design consultant for the regional sports hub (RSH) project. They were selected for their significant experience in designing sports facilities including Adelaide Oval.

A Community Reference Group was then established to provide ideas on how the site could be developed to benefit the community. The group represented a small composition of people from areas of the local community including district sporting community (not a particular sport), education providers, business sector, community groups, allied health service providers and general community representatives.

The Community Reference Group met on four occasions (between 21 February and 23 May 2018) to advise the design team and Council on how the broader community is likely to use the site. The final meeting of the group included discussion around the removal of the trees.

In March 2018, a community information session was advertised and held at the Mount Barker Civic Centre allowing the general public to drop in and understand more about the project including removal of the trees.

On 3 April 2018, a public report was presented to Council which included a recommendation to remove the trees subject to Native Vegetation Council approval and Development Approval. The recommendation was endorsed.

Council Meeting Agenda - 3 April 2018
Council Meeting Minutes - 3 April 2018

Detailed design work which indicated the significant trees to retained and removed and preparation of development application commenced following the Council decision of 3 April 2018.

A site layout plan showing the location of the seven significant trees and those that could not be saved was developed by Oxigen.

On 11 April 2018, the Courier published an article on the Regional Sports Hub project with the site layout plan shown.

At this time, Council also published a project update to all ratepayers in its District Matters - Autumn edition - with site layout plan shown.

In June 2018, the project web page was updated with the new site layout plan and another Council report provided a project update advising that DA had been delayed. The report attachment showed a fourth tree (at entrance) now was to be removed (subject to approvals) (See item 14.1 (page 291)

Council Meeting Agenda - 4 June 2018
Council Meeting Minutes - 4 June 2018

On 22 June 2018, FAQs on public website were updated to include information on significant trees:

Question. Significant Trees. Are there any significant trees on the site that will be removed?

Answer. The site does have tree constraints and the Council has worked to retain as many trees as possible. The masterplan requires the removal of 4 significant trees (of 7) (native vegetation clearance has been obtained). It is anticipated that hundreds of new trees will be planted on the site

In July 2018, the DA was lodged which included details of the trees to be removed and the EIS & Heritage Study and Category 3 full public notification occurred in August.

In August 2018, a further public Council report highlighted that the DA was in progress and that approval was being sought for removal of 4 significant trees.

Council Meeting Agenda - 6 August 2018
Council Meeting Minutes - 6 August 2018

On 30 Aug 2018, the Minister for Planning approved the site Master Plan as it met the Land Management Agreement requirement to develop this site for community use.

On 19 Sep 2018, the Council Assessment Panel gave planning consent approval for removal of trees subject to Native Vegetation Clearance Approval. An extract from this meeting is shown below:

Given the nature of the proposal a small number of remnant vegetation and regulated trees are required to be removed from the subject land.  It is inevitable that to accommodate this regional scale facility some trees are required to be removed.

Council’s Urban Forest Officer and the Open Space Department have been involved in discussions with the project team throughout the evolution of the application and a number of development incarnations have been contemplated in an attempt to retain the trees however design parameters did not allow this to occur.

While not typically desirable the proposed removal of four (4) Regulated trees is acceptable in the context of the relevant provisions of the Development Plan in that no reasonable alternative development options and design solutions are considered possible to prevent substantial tree-damaging activity occurring. This justification is consistent with the provisions of the Development Plan in particular Regulated Tree PDC 2.

It is noted Council understands its obligations under the Native Vegetation Act regarding native vegetation clearance permits.  A Native Vegetation Clearance Report has been provided by the applicant (Appendix L) and this proposes payment into the Native Vegetation Fund as a means to offset the removal of the four Regulated remnant trees.

It is understood that the trees to be removed will remain onsite as landscape and habit features within the landscaping and wetland area.  This is considered to be an acceptable outcome in the circumstances.

On 16 Oct 2018, Council were advised of Native Vegetation Clearance approval

On 7 May 2019, planning approval was granted.

Business case and project stages

The Mount Barker Regional Sports Hub business case as at 5 December 2017 is shown here:

Regional Sports Hub - Business Case as at 5 December 2017

Regional Sports Hub - Business Case Addendum 01

Regional Sports Hub - Business Case Addendum 02

The Mount Barker Regional Sports Hub Project is currently at detailed design stage and is expected to be constructed over at least 3 stages.Stage 1 will include:

• Site excavation, storm water drainage, sewage and services (water, power, telecommunications)
• Initial lighting
• Initial landscaping
• 1 of 2 AFL / Cricket premier standard oval/pitch
• 2 of 4 soccer pitches (1 premier standard)
• Female and male change rooms, public toilets, umpire and medical rooms, equipment storage
• Entrance, roadway and parking

Council’s target timings for stage 1 are as follows:

• 2019/20 – commence construction
• 2020/21 – open to the public

The project is currently in the tendering for construction process.  Following an open expression of interest process last year, Council issued the construction select tender at the end of May 2019.

Council agenda items

Recent report(s) to council on the project can be found on the Council meetings page.

Special Council Meeting Agenda - 14 October 2019
Special Council Meeting Minutes - 14 October 2019

3.1 Regional Sports Hub – Capital Funding Deed between Council and FFSA

• To seek authority to execute the Capital Funding Deed for the Mount Barker regional sports hub between Council and the Football Federation SA Incorporated.

3.2 Award of Contracts for Regional Sports Hub Stage 1 Construction – Separable Portion 1 (Bulk Earthworks & Civil Infrastructure)

To seek:

• Endorsement of the Mount Barker regional sports hub stage 1 additional Federal Government $2 million grant funding; scope and budget (less portion 2, buildings); and Business Case Addendum 02;
• Award of contract 2018.006, Regional Sports Hub Stage 1 Construction, Separable Portion 1 (bulk earthworks & civil infrastructure) and the award of a contract for the sports lighting; and
• Authority to (a) extend the scope and budget for stage 1 to include an additional 55 car park spaces on the eastern side of the premier oval and (b) enter into the required construction contra