Dundas Park Netball Court

The court surface has a lot of gravel sitting on it and the cracks need to be repaired. The court will need to be re-surfaced and the associated infrastructure is in need of a refresh and update to meet current safety standards for netball.

The project is required to be completed by 30 June 2022 due to the funding agreement with the Federal Government.

Sports that work best with netball are being considered - options include tennis, pickleball (a combination of badminton and tennis), volleyball and badminton.

These sports are known for being louder due to the bouncing in basketball and kicking of a soccer ball against a fence and goals. The court is located very close to adjoining residents and we want to ensure the potential increased use of the courts does not impact on them.

There is a third sized basketball court which is located on the opposite side of Dundas Park away from residents. 

Sturt Park located nearby in Telopea is also being upgraded (due to be completed early next year) which will provide a multi-purpose court space which can be used for basketball, cricket, handball, volleyball and ball wall activities. 

Depending on the community's preference for line-marking, this may be a requirement. There are some sports that cannot always operate concurrently, so at times if customers want to use the courts, they may be required to bring pop-up nets. When providing the concept, Council will be clear in how these might operate.

Feedback from the local community has raised concerns with people staying on courts longer than they should be, as well as accessing courts for commercial purposes like coaching or clinics. Already sporting clubs like netball are required to make a booking to get exclusive access to the court. Council also has tennis courts which customers can exclusively book.

Feedback on court access is also being asked for the tennis court at George Kendall Riverside Park and the netball/tennis court at Dunrossil Park. You can find further information on those sites by visiting: participate.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/co...

This engagement will only inform Council on what the community’s preferences are for court access. Staff will report back to the community on the results and recommendations from the engagement period in early 2022 (alongside the results from the George Kendall and Dunrossil courts too).

An online booking system assists in the operation of the courts as it allows customers to secure a timeslot so they have a confirmed booking when they turn up at the courts; it ensures customers follow booking rules (i.e. can only book for a certain amount of time); the system allows Council to track if there is any bookings that may be by a commercial hirer or if there are reports from the community for not following rules, the hirer can be pin-pointed; it provides data and a database of contacts so we can understand how the courts are used and keep people up to date on the courts operations and what programs may be happening locally.

If you would like an insight on how the online booking system operates at some of Council’s tennis facilities, please visit: https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/recreation/tennis-courts

Like Council’s other tennis court and sport and recreation facilities, a fee is associated with exclusive access to a site so that the customer receives a confirmation letter that it is booked for them; it ensures customers don’t block book the court for an extended period and/or book the site and not show up. Booked facilities also have a higher service standard, as higher use means more frequent and specific cleaning/maintenance, maintenance of nets and supporting infrastructure and/or maintaining lighting.

The project aims to repair the court surface and update the associated infrastructure to meet current safety standards for netball. The upgrade is tied to Federal grant funding (The Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Fund), with the works to be completed by June 30, 2022.

Stage 1 includes the core components the grant funding is tied to. 

Stage 2 is subject to available funding and the delivery of stage 1 of works by June 30, 2022. Once stage 1 of works has been finished, the court can be accessed and utilised by the community. 

Stage 3 involves the painting of the court surface and will tentatively take place in September 2022. The painting will be undertaken post Winter due to type of product used and the need for sunlight to dry the product.

The site will have multi-purpose lines and will have two key primary sports operating out of it. In winter (approx. March to early September) the court will operate as netball and in summer approx. September to March) the court will operate as tennis. 

This means during winter the court will have netball posts in the ground that will be taken out at the end of the winter season. Then during summer tennis posts will be put into the ground until the start of the netball season again. 

The courts will also have badminton, pickleball and volleyball line-markings so that community members are able to bring in their own portable nets to play these sports. 

This arrangement successfully works at Dunrossil Park in Carlingford and provides good balance between formal sporting club use and social sporting use.

The feedback received from the consultation period for Dundas was considered alongside engagement results for the Court Operations and Access at Dunrossil Park and George Kendall Riverside Park.