Protesters against Melbourne Victory's proposal,such as the Save Footscray Park group,appear to have got their wish.Credit:Wayne Taylor
The proposed women’s and youth soccer academy has become the inner west’s most polarising issue in years since Victory announced last October that it had won $10 million of state government funding.
Supporters said the proposal would provide much-needed,state-of-the-art facilities for local grassroots and female teams.
Opponents said the floodlit training grounds would not be available to the public enough,despite Victory stating the pitches would be open for use when their teams were not playing.
In its submissions to the council,the panel said the lease of at least 21 years would amount to a “loss of critical green space” and the proposed 500-person pavilion and three floodlit pitches would detract from the appearance of the park and significantly increase traffic.
An artist's impression of the three pitches that would be the new base for Victory's women's and youth teams.
The panel suggests that the council drops the plan,“thank Melbourne Victory football club for their proposal” and return to a previous plan to rejuvenate the grassland in its current form.
The 12-person panel,which included representatives from local sports clubs,historical societies and five community representatives,was appointed in August after councillors voted 6:1 to reject the draft masterplan for the park.