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Plans to convert two sports fields to synthetic turf at Callan Park in Sydney’s inner west are a step closer after the divisive project won approval from the state government’s heritage advisers.
The Inner West Council intends to convert the fields next to Balmain Road and Waterfront Drive in Lilyfield to all-weather surfaces as part of a long-standing pledge to lift the capacity of sporting facilities in the area, and in particular to accommodate the growth of women’s and girls’ sport.
The council and the NSW government are pushing ahead with plans to encourage greater use of the 61-hectare park, stoking debate about opening the park to commercial activities, such as cafes, galleries and markets.
Mayor Darcy Byrne said the artificial surfaces were a “proven way to deliver safe, reliable, year-round playing fields” to serve a surging number of players and ease pressure on nearby grass fields. The park’s long-abandoned Repatriation Ward will also be transformed into a new clubhouse for the Balmain and District Football Club.
“These new all-weather fields at Callan Park will be a major boost for local sport, giving people of all ages and abilities access to high-quality facilities throughout the year,” Byrne said.
The NSW Heritage Council approved the plans at their April meeting, clearing the path for a local planning panel to decide the $8 million proposal in June.
Sydney councils have increasingly turned to artificial turf to manage the strain on the city’s open space, often because it is cheaper, easier to maintain and can allow for higher usage. However, the trend has continued to alarm critics who remain concerned about potential health and environmental damage.
Balmain Greens MP Kobi Shetty said in a submission the park should remain as a flexible shared space. She urged the council to invest in a “better long-term solution: properly funded, best-practice natural turf”. She said fake grass could limit casual recreation, and restrict access for other sports, including cricket.
“When the fields are not in use for soccer, other users of Callan Park, of which there are many, would be unlikely to use this space for activities like dog walking, picnics, or informal play,” Shetty said.
The Friends of Callan Park community group said the park was a “rare and unique” site of state heritage significance that should remain a “healthy green environment for all the public to use and enjoy.
“Damage to Callan Park’s space, alienation of public space for one use, changing the surface from natural turf to synthetic or plastic grass ... will visually mar the heritage landscape and is unacceptable,” their submission said.
Byrne previously said the two fields accounted for less than 2 per cent of Callan Park. There were also five natural fields nearby, including another at Waterfront Drive which would remain as grass, King George Park, and two at Glover Street.
He said the council worked with Balmain and District Football Club and Leichhardt Saints Football Club on the final design of the project.
“Both clubs have shown a strong commitment to growing girls’ and women’s football and creating inclusive opportunities for players of all ages and abilities,” Byrne said.
Meantime, the government plans to bulldoze nine crumbling buildings in the park to free up 1.6 hectares of land for recreation. Work is also due to start on the Callan Park tidal baths, a joint project of the government and council, in June.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully said the government had introduced legislation to parliament aimed at streamlining the “tangle of leasing, licensing and tender processes” for the park. Greater Sydney Parklands has also released a draft masterplan for the site, which includes a cafe.
Shetty told parliament the changes would wind back protections in the Callan Park Act that prevented “broad-scale commercialisation and privatisation” at the site, which she said was “for the community, not for profit”.
Shetty said the proposed reforms removed provisions that restricted development in the park to not-for-profit purposes and encouraged commercial operators by extending maximum lease or licence terms to 50 years.
“There are valid concerns the bill will open the door to corporate operators within the park without parliamentary oversight and that it will allow for development to occur in places that are currently protected as undeveloped, open green space,” Shetty said.
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