Frequently Asked Questions
- 18 sports reserves
- 5 tennis facilities
- 3 bowls facilities
- 2 indoor sports stadiums (3 courts)
- 2 gymnastics facilities (local and regional facility).
- Geilston Bay is a district sports precinct. The land is part Council and part Lindisfarne North Primary School. The sports precinct provides for AFL, cricket, football, tennis and lawn bowls and includes two sports ovals, six tennis courts and three bowling greens.
- Rosny Park is a district sports precinct that provides for cricket, tennis and lawn bowls. There is a Premier League standard cricket oval and a tennis complex with six tennis courts
- Anzac Park is a district sports precinct that provides for AFL, cricket, tennis and lawn bowls and includes two sports ovals, five tennis courts and three bowling greens.
- Wentworth Park Sports Grounds is a district sports precinct that provides for football and touch rugby and includes five football pitches, including for National Premier League competition, and three touch rugby fields.
- Clarence High School is a district sports precinct. The land is managed by Council in partnership with the school and Department of Education. The sports precinct provides for AFL, cricket and athletics (it is the only athletics centre in the City of Clarence).
- Clarence Sports Centre is a multi-sport two court stadium with table tennis hall for six tables and a martial arts studio. The Centre is managed by the National Fitness Sport and Recreation Association (NFSRA). The Centre hosts sport programs for basketball, netball, table tennis, futsal, karate, indoor hockey, martial arts, badminton, volleyball, wheelchair sports, pickleball, roller derby, Ready Steady Go Kids, Defence Force training and schools PE lessons.
- Eastside Gymnastics Activity Centre is a regional gymnastics centre that is about 3,500m2 and can support training for State/National level athletes. The centre is owned and managed by Eastside Gymnastics Club. The full-service gymnastics facility includes separate trampolining, tumbling, ninja and kids’ gym spaces, plus a strength and conditioning gym.
- Clarence Gymnastics Centre is a local gymnastics centre that has recently expanded to 600m2 (from 400m2). The centre is managed by Gym Sports.
Why do we need a Strategic Sports Facilities Plan?
The Sports Facilities Strategic Plan will provide an overarching sports facility planning framework for the City of Clarence. The plan’s objectives will be aligned to strategic commitments made by Council in the Clarence Strategic Plan 2021-31 and Active Living Strategy 2022: “A well-planned liveable City, through providing contemporary sport, recreation, exercise, and leisure facilities and spaces.”
Council has previously undertaken a recreation needs assessment (Clarence Recreation Needs Assessment 2019). The research was based on a community survey and club survey, however there was no demand analysis modelling undertaken as part of this research. The research is now out of date following two years of COVID-19 interrupted seasons of sport, and recent strategic facility planning undertaken by Council and peak sporting bodies (e.g. AFL Tasmania State-Wide Facilities Strategy 2021 to 2030 and Football Tasmania State-Wide Facilities Strategy 2023 to 2033.
Council has acknowledged that previous improvements to sports precincts have not been focused on the big picture and that a strategic approach is needed to guide the development of sports precincts and ensure it is targeted in a way that provides the greatest value and addresses priority needs.
What are key drivers of sport participation in Clarence?
Population growth is a key driver of demand, fuelling the demand for organised indoor and outdoor sports in Clarence. Clarence's population of 62,858 (2022) will grow to 70,836 by 2042. Clarence also has a high proportion (54.9%) of the community within the most active age groups between 5 and 49 years which is driving participation in organised sports and increasing pressure on facilities. There are an estimated 12,065 participants in the major participation sports in the Clarence that will grow to 13,656 by 2042.
While there are generally high levels of advantage in the Clarence, there are areas identified as suburbs of disadvantage. Providing affordable participation opportunities will be an important operational consideration of in the Sports Facilities Strategic Plan.
A preliminary analysis of the current sports facilities in Clarence shows indoor and outdoor courts and outdoor sports fields are reaching capacity, with some sports facilities’ assets requiring renewal or not being fit-for-purpose.
The Sports Facilities Strategic Plan is an opportunity to provide a whole-of-network approach to addressing these challenges and developing site-specific recommendations for future investment in our facilities.
What are the benefits of community sport and recreation?
In 2018, Sport Australia partnered with KPMG and La Trobe University to investigate the value of community sport infrastructure to Australia. The study quantified the value of community sport infrastructure across Australia to be at least $16.2b with $6.3B worth of economic benefit, $4.9B worth of health benefit and $5.1B worth of social benefit.
Community sport infrastructure also enable other qualitative benefits including employments, volunteering, reduction in drowning and falls, social inclusion, community pride, reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour and increased levels of trust.
What sport and recreation facilities do we have?
Clarence City Council has a diverse network of sports facilities that supports state and local domestic sports teams and competitions. These sports facilities are managed by both Council and other providers.
Clarence City Council has:
Major sports precincts managed by the City of Clarence include:
The following sport and recreation facilities and spaces are located within the municipality, but are managed by other providers:
Who is Council consulting with?
Development of the Sports Facilities Strategic Plan will involve extensive consultation with various stakeholders and the wider community.
In addition to inviting ideas and contributions from the community through our survey (see link on this page), Council is also engaging directly with sports clubs, sports bodies and associations and various other stakeholders to make sure we get a complete picture of current and future sports participation and demand for our facilities.
What are the next steps?
The Sports Facilities Strategic Plan will be developed over the next six-months.
We are currently in the first phase of the project which is the information gathering stage. This involves market research, supply analysis, site assessment and audit and the community and stakeholder engagement processes. This first stage will be completed by November 2023.
The second stage of the project involves the analysis of research findings and development of the strategic vision and directions including recommendations and an implementation plan. The second stage of the project will be completed by March 2024.
A draft report will be released for further consultation and feedback in mid-March 2024.