A proposed fit-for-purpose redevelopment of the NTCA Sports Complex in Launceston will provide expanded facilities to meet the needs and demands of the Northern sporting community, including some of the region’s most popular and fastest-growing sporting codes.
The City of Launceston will today outline proposals for a future redevelopment of Launceston’s premier multi-use sporting facility.
City of Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood said the existing NTCA Ground facilities had served the community well but upgrades were now in order to serve a new generation of Launceston residents.
“The NTCA Sports Complex and its neighbouring facilities provide an important sporting and social environment for the various home clubs and the many thousands of users it hosts each year,” Mayor Garwood said.
“The complex is already recognised as a sporting precinct, with cricket, Aussie rules football and soccer all being in the one area.
“Launceston’s regional tennis centre and the Elphin Sports Centre are also to be found within the broader Racecourse Crescent sporting precinct, presenting an exciting opportunity for a strategic master plan to guide these facilities into the future.
“We know that all of those different sporting codes are booming in terms of community participation levels, with even more growth expected over the coming years.
“In fact, some are already well above capacity — such as soccer and basketball — so this plan will go a long way to helping to meet many of those demands in terms of more ground capacity, and more change rooms that will better cater for female participants.”
The NTCA Sports Complex is currently home to five community sport clubs across three codes — cricket, AFL and soccer — and representatives of those five clubs plus the NTCA board make up the facilities management group, which oversees all operational planning for precinct users.
Over the past few months, the Council has engaged with the facility management group throughout the development of a new masterplan to understand their various wish-lists, strategic objectives and future requirements.
Mayor Garwood said that during those engagement sessions a number of common themes arose, such as:
● Difficulties in sharing one common clubroom space
● Equitable access to bar and kitchen facilities
● Inadequate change rooms, particularly for female and junior participants
● Inadequate function spaces, particularly for larger functions
● Turf renewal and ground drainage
“Those conversations were incredibly beneficial for all parties involved and have been critical in the development of the master plan,” Mayor Garwood said.
It’s now proposed to refurbish both the NTCA number one and number two grounds, provide new indoor and outdoor cricket training facilities, develop new improved vehicular access and parking for 90 more vehicles and an eye-catching new shared function centre that includes a gymnasium, significantly more
change rooms and toilets, a new commercial kitchen and a function centre capable of seating 350 people.
It is also proposed to broaden the scope of the master plan to include the Launceston Tennis Centre and the Elphin Sports Stadium.
The City of Launceston expects the plan will require funding support from other tiers of government.
“By expanding our thinking to the broader recreational precinct, we have the opportunity to expand the number of courts at the Elphin Sports Centre, provide a small clubhouse for the Launceston Tennis Centre, and build a contemporary function centre that is shared between tennis and Elphin,” Mayor Garwood said.
“The City of Launceston will soon begin the next round of engagement with the precinct users and the various sports’ governing bodies to refine the concept master plan, and we expect to take the project to State and Federal political parties in future election cycles.
