Due to a lack of interest from anyone qualified to run such an operation, the tennis centre closed down in 2012. It is now owned by investors who are consulting the community on how the 12,699 sq.m. site can be used.
An information display will be held at the Tennis Centre in Walhallow Street from 4.30-6.30 pm on Wed 28 March. Members of the public are welcome to drop in at any time during this period to discuss the proposal with Purdon’s project team. An advanced presentation was provided to the committee on Thursday evening and to the Belconnen Community Council on Tuesday.
At present, the site is zoned PRZ2 – for Restricted Access Recreation. At the front is a government-owned public car park and in the western corner is a block of unleased Territory land that is used for an overflow gravel car park during major sporting competitions. The proposal is to include both the public car park and the gravel car park, presuming alternative parking arrangements can be provided for major sporting events.
The lease has already been varied to allow a child care centre to be built on the site. The intention now is to change the zoning from recreation to Community Facilities with a residential overlay for medium-density housing. The indicative concept plan below does not represent a specific development proposal.
Some concerns to consider are:- the continuing loss of sporting facilities/space across Canberra as the population is growing;
- the density of possible proposed housing – 58 two-storeyed terrace houses, each row separated by a six-metre wide driveway;
- the loss of trees – replaced by building and paving;
- the setting of a precedent to erode what is currently a large, uniform area of sporting space in the district;
- the possibility that the bowling club might follow suit.
Please send us your bright ideas of how this excellent site might best be used.
friends of hawker village 