Members of the Kiama community and representatives from its various sports clubs gathered at The Pavillion on 6 September to discuss their visions and requests for the soon-to-be upgraded Kiama Sports Complex, AKA Quarry Sportsfield.

Kiama Council held a community feedback session in conjunction with Sala4D, the landscape architecture firm contracted to develop a masterplan for the site, to gain a better understanding of exactly what sports clubs use the facilities for and what they would like to see. It’s important to note that the Kiama Leisure Centre is not included.

Field upgrades

Before participants could list their dream projects, the first thing that needs to be addressed is the current state of the sports fields.

One of the most important upgrades that the represented club requested is better viewing areas for audiences. At the moment, there is a single concrete grandstand relegated to one side of the quarry, giving only a minimal view of what is actually going on. Whether it’s a grandstand or simply better shaded areas, everyone was in agreement that the current viewing areas aren’t anywhere close to being up to snuff.

Prior to the meeting, representatives from netball, Little Athletics, cricket and soccer all agreed that they’d like to work together to build a shared clubhouse between them. The proposed clubhouse would be situated in the middle of the complex with viewing areas on both sides, giving audiences a place to watch activity on every field. 

The proposed clubhouse would also have shared storage between the different clubs, preventing them from needing to lug their gear between their cars every time they use the facilities. Representatives from the Kiama Junior Football Club said they already had plans drawn up for the clubhouse, which would also include upgraded amenities for men and women.

The other main issue is the current state of the grass fields and netball courts. According to participants, the grass fields are easily prone to flooding and the drains that are currently installed don’t work because they sit higher than the rest of the field. Netball players are often unable to use some of the courts because it’s too difficult to remove the mud that builds up whenever it rains.

Whatever upgrades are actually approved, developers will always face the challenges associated with developing around a former quarry site, given that underneath the turf is a layer of bedrock so it is extremely difficult to construct proper drainage.

One popular solution for the drainage issue is to replace the grass turf with synthetic tracks for athletics and synthetic fields for soccer and netball. A synthetic turf would cost significantly more than a regular grass pitch and still needs to be maintained, but these maintenance costs could be significantly less than the cost to maintain the often-flooded grass fields.

Parking

One of the major challenges for the facility that impacts the entire Kiama LGA is parking and traffic. The facility only has minimal parking, which is further constrained when a large event is held there or multiple sports codes train at the same time. 

There’s also just one exit and entrance to the facility which leads into a roundabout, causing traffic to build up for around 20 minutes when a large number of cars try to enter or exit. Parking will continue to remain a headache, as the restricted space means the options to expand parking are minimal.

Skatepark

What was once a favourite for Kiama’s young population, the Kiama skatepark has been somewhat of a thorn in the side of the rest of the clubs that use the quarry. Those in attendance agreed that the Kiama skatepark, whilst a good idea, was constructed poorly from the beginning, and a more inclusive park in a different location would be more appropriate. 

Most agreed the skatepark should be relocated, and one popular suggestion was to replace it with practice wickets for the cricket club. The club needs at least five practice wickets but only has three at the moment. If the skatepark was replaced with cricket nets, it would mean cricket players would be much closer to parking and wouldn’t need to lug all their gear to the corner of the quarry.

Where to from here?

Sala4D will take suggestions and feedback from participants and use them to develop a masterplan for the site, though all residents are encouraged to continue submitting their ideas on Kiama Council’s website. 

Once finalised, Kiama Council will vote whether to approve the masterplan and put it on exhibition for the public to review. Once approved, Kiama Council and any other stakeholders can use the masterplan to form the basis for their applications to receive State and Federal funding to actually deliver these projects. According to Sala4D, clubs could start applying for grants by mid-next year in the best case scenario where there are no holdups to the masterplan's approval.