Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts on the draft policy for allocating sportsgrounds for seasonal sport.

We closed our community consultation on 19 March 2024. We are now reviewing your feedback and will adjust the draft policy as needed before presenting the final policy to Councillors and sharing it with our community later this year.

How we manage sportsgrounds in Boroondara

Boroondara residents have some of the highest sports participation rates in Australia and there is high demand for access to sportsgrounds and pavilions for training and games.

We are committed to making sure there is fair and equal access to sportsgrounds and pavilions in Boroondara, including for women’s and girls' teams. We also need to make sure the playing surface of sportsgrounds is not affected by overuse.

We carefully coordinate the use of sportsgrounds by allowing sports clubs, schools and other organisations to apply for a seasonal licence.

This licence outlines:

  • which sportsground and pavilion a group can access
  • the hours a group can access the sportsground and pavilion during the season.

About the draft policy

We drafted the Organised Sport Seasonal Allocation Policy to help create a clear and consistent way of allocating our sportsgrounds and pavilions.

This policy is for sports clubs, schools and other organisations who request the seasonal licences.

The draft policy includes 4 main proposed changes to how we manage sportsgrounds and pavilions in Boroondara (see below). You can download the full draft policy from the Document library on this page.

  • 1. Priority

    We have outlined how we will prioritise seasonal allocations that reflect the:

    • ­high value our community puts on team sports­
    • growing number of women and girls playing team sports.

  • 2. Training time

    We will increase the hours that groups can use sportsgrounds to allow extra training time.

  • 3. Night matches

    We will allow night matches on suitable grounds.

  • 4. Access

    We will extend pre-season access to groups before the start of each season.

What isn't part of the draft policy

Seasonal licence fees are not part of this draft policy. We are aiming to complete a separate review of seasonal licence fees in 2025.

By 2025, we are aiming to draft a separate Outdoor Fitness and Recreation Policy that will better reflect how dog training and fitness training operators use sportsgrounds. We will then invite these groups to review this policy.

How we invited our community to have their say

We invited feedback on our draft policy from seasonal licence holders and the wider Boroondara community.

We will use your feedback and comments to help shape our approach to how we manage sportsgrounds and pavilions in Boroondara.

The survey was open for feedback until Tuesday 19 March 2024.