Council has dropped the ball on sporting facilities, residents say
The Murray Bridge council asked for feedback on its strategic and annual business plans. Here’s what ratepayers told them.
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If Murray Bridge is to thrive, the city’s council must invest more in local sporting facilities and events.
That’s the message ratepayers have given the council loudly and clearly during a recent consultation on the council’s draft budget for 2024-25, and strategic plan for the next four years.
Leading the charge were basketball association president Shirley Hartman and gymnastics academy president Narrelle Roe-Simons, representing about 900 participants and volunteers between them.
Theirs were among the groups most affected when council-led plans for a new indoor sports hub fell apart last year.
They called for:
- More funds for sporting facilities
- Priority for projects which supported large numbers of people of all ages, not just “historically powerful causes”
- Easier ways for clubs to work with the council
“Before we can get more professionals, more businesses, more tourism, more international investment, we first need a strong community,” they said.
“Right now we feel as though our biggest community assets – our sports clubs and (the) volunteers within them – are being placed continually lower on a priority ladder.
“We are losing volunteers and strong community families to Adelaide and the Hills each month, and this must stop.”
Too often Murray Bridge missed out on regional or statewide sporting events in favour of smaller towns like Berri, Port Lincoln and Port Augusta, they said.
Also in favour of more support for sport was Murraylands Multisports’ Morgan Coull.
He asked the council to support the AusCycling state championships, Murray Bridge Marathon and Murray Bridge Triathlon.
Between them, the three events were expected to bring more than 600 people to the district later this year.
Smaller townships need to be included, Sunnyside resident says
Sport wasn’t the only issue which came up during the consultation.
Sunnyside resident Roger Wickes argued that the council needed to do more for communities like his.
“When you live out there, you just feel as though … anything on the periphery (of the district) is not looked at,” he said.
“Once upon a time we had wards, we had councillors who used to come over and actually talk to us, but we don’t see them any more.”
Other residents asked for things including:
- A community wellbeing plan
- Improvements to McQuarrie Street Reserve
- A pontoon at Wellington
- The closure of the Murraylands Skills Centre
- Greater acknowledgement of culturally and linguistically diverse community members
Councillors pass plans without major changes
On Monday night, council staff responded to each suggestion in a report to councillors, highlighting actions they were already taking or priorities already included in their plans.
But councillors did not make any significant changes to any of the plans before approving them.
The council committed to identifying potential locations, regional partners and funding opportunities for a multi-sport complex, but did not allocate any funding for it in 2024-25.
The council also flagged a new review of its sporting grounds and land holdings.
Among other things, with the council’s budget for 2024-25 now locked in, that means property owners will pay an average of $209 more in rates from July 1.
The rate rise is due to rising property values – the rate in the dollar the council charges will actually drop by 8.2%.
