A booming suburb in Melbourne’s west could be forced to make a difficult decision between fixing their traffic problems or building a sports facility for clubs that are bursting at the seams.
A junior cricket club that runs its operations out of garages is facing an uncertain wait for a headquarters as cost pressures and flood management force Wyndham City Council to review a new Werribee sports precinct that multiple growing clubs would have called home.
Players from Werribee Junior Cricket Club and Werribee Masters Football Club at the future Alfred Road Reserve.Credit: Wayne Taylor
The issue has emerged because of competing priorities to build a major road connection needed to solve the region’s gridlock problems.
Last year, the federal and state governments promised $114 million for the Ison Road overpass, a railway bridge that connects growing parts of Wyndham and Werribee West to a new council-built road with direct access to the Princes Freeway.
The project is popular locally because the region’s surging population means residents in these areas must drive through central Werribee to reach the freeway and the extra traffic is clogging local roads.
But the planned road, connecting the overpass to the freeway, is scheduled to be built in a floodplain and close to another key commitment, a new sports hub named Alfred Road Reserve.
Population growth is fuelling traffic snarls in central Werribee. Credit: Fairfax Media
The precinct has also been the target of state government funding, receiving $1.5 million towards setting up as one of the state’s new cricket precincts.
Both projects require significant drainage work to ensure they can go ahead, with council now “actively considering” the future of the sports precinct because of rising cost pressures.
Clubs have been told the Alfred Road Reserve is likely to be postponed while the Ison Road project is prioritised.
Werribee Juniors Cricket Club president Kartik Patel said he believed they were one of the biggest cricket organisations of their kind in the state but were still without a permanent home as they waited for the hub to be completed.
“Last year, we had about 25 teams, boys and girls, and one of the strongest girls’ programs in the state,” he said.
“We understand everyone’s got budgetary constraints. But we’ve also got to look after community sports.
“Right now we are operating from members’ sheds and members’ garages, which shouldn’t be the case when you’re trying to service a junior community club which has got 200-plus kids registered.”
Patel said cricket participation was rising across the west, partly driven by migration from the South Asian community.
He said they were working with the council to come up with stop-gap arrangements and understood the challenge of not having enough grounds to accommodate teams.
“If one of the biggest clubs is not serviced appropriately, then I just think what the smaller clubs will go through,” Patel said.
When the Andrews government announced $1.5 million for the cricket hub in October last year it was expected to be completed in early 2024.
The funding was announced a month after the Ison Road overpass and among a series of major commitments in the region made before the state election, when it was speculated the region could swing against Labor.
Treasurer Tim Pallas is the local MP for Werribee.Credit: Gus McCubbing
Patel said the foundation had been laid for the project and photo opportunities had been teed up late last year, but they were being told about delays just as it was time to deliver.
“We are a junior club, community service, not-for-profit organisation, we don’t really care why it’s delayed, we just need something,” he said.
Another club that was expected to call Alfred Road home is Werribee Masters Football Club, an over-35s Australian football team focused on promoting personal health.
“We’re a building team that actually has no home at the moment,” president Scott Harris said.
A Wyndham City spokeswoman said larger projects often needed approvals from agencies such as Melbourne Water to proceed, and this included plans for Ison Road and the sports hub.
“Due to flood management complexities, we are currently working through the drainage component,” she said.
“In relation to the Alfred Road Reserve, council is actively considering the future of this project in light of escalating costs associated with delivering capital projects.
“The [Ison Road] project remains a key priority for Wyndham City.”
A spokeswoman for Major Road Projects Victoria said detailed flood modelling was under way to find flood mitigation measures, which would include considering projects planned by the council.
A spokeswoman for Cricket Victoria said the Werribee Cricket Hub would play a critical role in the sport’s growth in Melbourne’s west, and they would work to ensure it was delivered.
Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman David Southwick said the government was failing Melbourne’s west and taking the region for granted.
“Local residents shouldn’t be forced to choose between driving out of their home and sport facilities for their kids,” he said.
“These projects must be properly planned and delivered so that Wyndham residents can enjoy the same standard of living as every other part of the state.”
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