Community Outrage as ACT Government Approves Sports Club Demolition
The ACT government has approved the demolition of Eastlake Football Club's Kaleen Sports Club, adding to the growing list of community sporting facilities lost across the territory. The decision has sparked outrage among local residents who claim there was minimal community consultation before the approval.
The Kaleen Sports Club facility, despite its deteriorating condition, supported three viable businesses that served hundreds of community members weekly. The building had been allowed to fall into disrepair over many years, with leaking roofs, flooding issues, a closed swimming pool, cracked tiles, and uncleaned graffiti.
Thriving Community Hub Faces Closure
Despite the poor physical state, the complex housed several successful operations. The Kaleen Indoor Sports Centre ran five different sporting competitions each week, serving between 1,000 and 1,500 children and adults regularly. Additionally, it hosted approximately 50-90 children's birthday parties annually.
Other businesses included the Bristol Club, which provided family bistro services and event venues, and Snap Fitness, operating a 24/7 gym facility. Local resident Dianne Deane from Lyneham expressed concerns that the ACT Planning Authority approved Eastlake Football Club's application to rezone this community asset with almost zero community consultation.
Development Plans Raise Viability Concerns
The property has since been sold to a developer planning to construct 96 apartments across three blocks. While new development plans include provisions for a swimming school and indoor sports centre spread across two floors, critics question their commercial viability and adequacy compared to existing facilities.
Deane raised important questions about community facility leases, suggesting they shouldn't provide clubs with an "undeniable right to use them as a slush bucket" later, especially when neglect becomes an argument supporting re-zoning claims.
The approval represents another example of successful community facilities being eliminated by bureaucratic decisions, leaving residents questioning the government's commitment to preserving community spaces amid development pressures.
