Jurd Park Community Consultation 2024

Jurd Park in Colo Vale is a popular spot for the community, offering soccer fields, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, a small playground, and facilities for the Loop Line Pony Club.

Council knows that the soccer fields and pony club area could use some improvements, especially with drainage.

Council’s Community and Recreational Facilities Strategy (CRFS) was adopted at the Ordinary Council Meeting of 18 October 2023. The Strategy guides and informs Council and the Community to plan, fund and deliver formal community and recreation facilities across the Shire. It contains a list of shire-wide and local precinct actions and for the Hill Top – Balmoral – Colo Vale precinct (Precinct J), one action contained in the strategy is to “Undertake a Masterplan for the Jurd Park facility to include additional recreational community use, including potential cricket provision at the site”.

In early 2024 Council conducted community consultation as the first step in developing a concept Masterplan for the Jurd Park facility. Notices were placed at the facility and Colo Vale Public School and this Participate Wingecarribee page with an online survey created. From this consultation 261 submissions were received from the community. On-site meetings were held with representatives of the Loop Line Pony Club, Colo Vale Public School, 355 Committee, Highlands Soccer Association and Colo Vale Tennis Club. Other key stakeholders that were contacted via email and phone included the Mittagong Soccer Club and Hill Top Cricket Club.

From both the online feedback received and meetings and communications with key stakeholders the following themes emerged from the consultations:

Requirement of improvement to the drainage and field conditions of both the playing ovals and Pony Club facility
Upgrade of the playing ovals, including a turf cricket wicket enabling the facility to be used by both winter and summer sports with soccer and cricket being the most represented
Lighting of the playing ovals to enable training and upgrade to the tennis court lighting
Access and accessibility of the site, especially the playing fields and Pony Club

Upgrade of the existing playspace and increased opportunities / facilities for older age groups.

At the conclusion of the consultation period and after a Request for Quotation process, Landscape Architect, Sturt Noble Associates, was engaged to develop the Concept Masterplan.

The development of the Masterplan has been based on Council’s review of the community feedback that was received, and the relevant Council strategies that guide the development and implementation of community and recreational facilities within the Shire.

The Jurd Park Masterplan has been prepared to cater for multi-use sporting guidelines across the identifiable playing fields. It increases possible usage through enhanced lighting of both the playing fields and tennis courts and caters for both winter and summer sporting guidelines. Outdoor amenity is improved through improved seating, a new half-court basketball area as well as maintaining one softball diamond, the upgrade of the existing playspace and improved landscaping of the natural bush area. The consultant’s qualified arborist has recommended the removal of two trees showing signs of stress and dead branches where the current playspace is located and this allows for the playspace area to be enlarged. Accessibility to the site and across the whole facility would be improved if the Jurd Park Concept Masterplan was implemented.

When was the Exhibition Period?

The Concept Masterplan for Jurd Park was on public exhibition for a period of 28 days. It opened from Monday 22 July and closed on Monday 19 August 2024.

Next steps:

Submissions received are being reviewed and a final report is being developed for Council. For project updates, please follow and subscribe to this page.