State Government Policy AlignmentA Fairer Victoria:Strategy 12: Building stronger communitiesAction 12.8 Support new community projects“Continue to provide support for community projectsthrough the <strong>Community</strong> Support Fund.”Growing Victoria Together:High quality, accessible health <strong>and</strong> communityservices.“The health of Victorians will improve.”Department for Vic. Communities – SRV –<strong>Community</strong> Facility Funding Program“The <strong>Community</strong> Facility Funding Programcontributes to the provision of high quality <strong>and</strong>accessible community sport <strong>and</strong> recreation facilitiesacross Victoria.”2
<strong>Sporting</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Leisure</strong> <strong>Facilities</strong><strong>Neighbourhood</strong> <strong>Community</strong>PrioritiesFact Sheet: Laurimar Primary School Synthetic JuniorSoccer PitchOur MunicipalityThe City of Whittlesea is located 20km north ofMelbourne. It is a large municipality covering an areaof 490 square km of both urban <strong>and</strong> rural l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong>has a current population of over 134,000. The Cityincludes the suburbs of Bundoora, Donnybrook,Doreen, Eden Park, Epping, Humevale, KinglakeWest, Lalor, Mernda, Mill Park, South Morang,Thomastown <strong>and</strong> Whittlesea. The City of Whittleseais a designated growth area <strong>and</strong> is experiencing asustained period of rapid urban growth, particularlyon the urban fringe. Since 2001 around 16,000people have moved in to the municipality <strong>and</strong> over9,500 extra dwellings have come on line. This growthis predicted to remain strong for the next 25 years ormore with a projected increase in our population to240,000 by 2031.The municipality faces the distinctive challenges ofbalancing the dynamics of urban areas, rural areas,rapid growth, social disadvantage <strong>and</strong> high dem<strong>and</strong>for services. The City has one of the most culturallydiverse populations, with over 48% of residentscoming from non-English speaking backgrounds.Whittlesea has also the fourth highest population ofIndigenous people in metropolitan Melbourne. TheCity of Whittlesea is characterised by pockets of highsocio-economic disadvantage, ranking the sixth mostdisadvantaged on the SEIFA Index of Disadvantage<strong>and</strong> the fourth most disadvantaged on the Index ofEducation <strong>and</strong> Occupation.To accommodate this growth, diversity <strong>and</strong> highservice dem<strong>and</strong>, the City requires practicalresponses that balance community development,economic growth <strong>and</strong> environmental wellbeing.Insufficient resources, because of inappropriatefunding formulae, have failed to keep up withpopulation growth resulting in a backlog ofcommunity infrastructure renewal <strong>and</strong> creation withinboth established <strong>and</strong> emerging communities. TheCity provides a range of recreation participationopportunities for residents through the provision offacilities, public infrastructure, programs <strong>and</strong>services. However, the provision of facilities <strong>and</strong>infrastructure is not keeping pace with populationgrowth <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>.Increased State Government investment in socialinfrastructure is essential to achieve a basic level ofservice provision.The NeedLaurimar is located in the rapidly developing growtharea of Mernda. The Laurimar Estate is currently insecond stage development which includes acommunity <strong>and</strong> commercial precinct.The Laurimar Primary School (currently underconstruction) is situated centrally within thecommunity <strong>and</strong> commercial precinct <strong>and</strong> is directlynext to the Laurimar Town Park which will consist of2 Australian Rules Football <strong>and</strong> Cricket ovals <strong>and</strong>associated infrastructure.The School’s Master Plan includes a future proposedsynthetic soccer pitch which will be used for schoolsports activities <strong>and</strong> potential community sportparticipation during after school hours <strong>and</strong> weekendperiods.Council will negotiate a shared use agreement <strong>and</strong>management plan with the Laurimar Primary Schoolto ensure clear roles <strong>and</strong> responsibilities of all partiesare developed <strong>and</strong> relevant community use issustained.CostThe estimated cost of this project is $800K.
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