Regional sports precinct in Mernda

The Regional Sports Precinct will be built on land at Plenty Road in Mernda, to the north of Bridge Inn Road.

As part of the Regional Sports Precinct development, Everton Drive will be extended about 100 metres east to connect to Plenty Road, creating a new intersection.

This intersection, to be controlled by traffic lights, will not only help ease congestion around Mernda, but provide access to the sports precinct in Everton Drive.

Work on the extension and intersection began in early April 2024 and is expected to take about 12 months.

For more information about the Plenty Road-Everton Drive intersection project, go to the Plenty Road-Everton Drive intersection page.

At our Council Meeting on 19 March 2024, we approved a concept design for the Regional Sports Precinct’s indoor stadium and outdoor netball facilities.

The concept design provides for four indoor multipurpose courts and up to eight outdoor netball courts.

It also includes car parking, landscaping, wetlands development and the installation of associated supporting infrastructure at the site.

The new courts will help to boost participation rates across a number of sports, including netball and basketball, and reduce the need for residents to travel outside the municipality.

Construction of the Regional Sports Precinct will be staged to allow for other facilities, such as aquatic and leisure facilities, to be potentially added in the future.

The provision of aquatic and leisure facilities is dependent on further consideration of the financial implications, including any available state and/or federal government funding, by Council in the 2025-26 financial year.

Council’s Active Whittlesea Strategy 2019-2028 outlines some of the health and wellbeing challenges facing residents in the City of Whittlesea.

These include:

• Higher-than-state-average rates of lifestyle conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and osteoporosis
• Higher rate than the state average of smoking
• Increasing rates of obesity and heart disease.

A lack of conveniently located, accessible and purpose-built sporting facilities is a known barrier to people engaging in physical activity.

The Regional Sports Precinct in Mernda will help improve the quality of life among the region’s residents by providing a place where people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities can participate.

Council established a community stakeholder reference group in early 2024 to provide feedback throughout the Regional Sports Precinct’s design process.

The group included representatives from Netball Victoria, Basketball Victoria, a local netball association and a local school, as well as a local resident and CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) advocate to ensure the facility met the needs of the broader community.

Some residents might know the Regional Sports Precinct by its previous name ‘Regional Aquatic and Sports Centre’.

This is the same project. We just adopted a new working title in March 2024. We will consider a permanent name for the precinct in the future.

The City of Whittlesea is committed to providing the sport and recreation facilities its growing population needs to live healthy and active lives.

Netball and basketball are two of the largest participation sports in the municipality, however, the demand for courts currently outstrips supply.

As a result, many players are choosing to play in competitions held in neighbouring municipalities.

Demand is only expected to increase as the population of the City of Whittlesea’s northern communities grows.

A modern, fit-for-purpose sports court precinct at Mernda will help to meet this demand and increase participation.

Council has approved a concept design providing for four indoor multipurpose sports courts and up to eight outdoor netball courts.

The final number of courts will be dependent on the level of funding available.

The courts will be made available to local sporting organisations, primary and high schools and community members.

A detailed programming schedule will be formulated closer to the precinct’s opening.

Community consultation conducted in 2020 showed that residents would value having access to swimming facilities in addition to the indoor and outdoor multipurpose courts.

Council has since explored options that would include sports courts and aquatic facilities.

In July 2022, Council endorsed a business case for the construction of the new regional precinct which included plans for multipurpose courts and a 50-metre pool.

The project has been staged to allow for it to be built as funding is secured for each part of the project.

Council is reliant on Federal and State Government funding to build this project which has been costed in excess of $180 million.

So far Council has been promised $10 million from the Victorian Government’s Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution fund towards the construction of road infrastructure, including the Everton Drive intersection upgrade.

Council has also received $10 million for sports courts from the Victorian Government with another $10 million flagged for future aquatics.

As a result, Council has begun ground works on the site and will build the sports courts.

Detailed design work will be undertaken on the possibility of including aquatic and leisure facilities, such as a pool, spa and gymnasium, in the third stage of the development.

A report will then come to Council for consideration in the 2025-26 financial year outlining the fiscal implications, including any state and/or federal government funding either committed or available to apply for.

The extension of Everton Drive and resultant intersection at Plenty Road is required to improve traffic flow around Mernda and provide access to the future Regional Sports Precinct.

The extension was identified in both the Mernda Strategy Plan (2004) and Everton Gardens Development Plan as necessary to manage traffic flow as Mernda’s population grows.

Work on the Plenty Road-Everton Drive intersection started in early April 2024. The works are expected to last about 12 months.

The roadworks will affect a section of Plenty Road, in both directions, about 100 metres north of Bridge Inn Road through to Station Road.

Plenty Road will remain open for the duration of the works, however, motorists can expect changed traffic conditions, including a reduction in the speed limit, to keep workers and road users safe.

Once works start, Council recommends motorists plan ahead and allow extra time to complete their journey.

Residents in Everton Drive and surrounding streets will continue to have full access to their properties for the duration of the works, as will property owners in Station Road.

After the Plenty Road-Everton Drive intersection is complete, a roundabout will be constructed at the intersection of Everton Drive and Sissinghurst Parade.

The roundabout, which will be the subject of a separate tender process, will provide vehicles with access to the Regional Sports Precinct.

More information about this project will be communicated in due course.