City of South Perth staff recommend WASPs hockey club find new hive in Victoria Park

A 90-year-old South Perth hockey club which has been on the hunt for a new home for more than a decade may be forced to move to a training facility in Victoria Park.

The Wesley South Perth hockey club and the City of South Perth have been in discussions since 2012 about a new hockey facility which would have a clubhouse, a synthetic hockey turf, sports lighting and grass hockey grounds.

The WASPs are currently based in Richardson Park, South Perth, which has six grass hockey fields but no synthetic fields.

Last June the South Perth council voted 4-3 to reject a proposal from the club for a new facility at Collier Reserve — which was pitched following a feasibility study — after staff said it was too expensive, costing an “unachievable” $14.8 million.

The following month, the council unanimously backed a proposal from mayor Greg Milner that city staff work with the club, Wesley College and other relevant groups to find an appropriate location in the city.

The city has since come back with a proposal that WASPs bases itself out of the Australian High Performance Hockey Centre being developed in the Town of Victoria Park.

“The new site (Australian Hockey Centre) will be considerably larger and provide unprecedented opportunities for all local clubs to maximise their capacity to grow hockey,” a staff report said.

South Perth deputy mayor Bronwyn Waugh has also put forward a separate motion proposing part of Collier Park — which is in the City of South Perth — be leased to the club.

If approved, the WASPs would need to obtain development approval to build new club facilities and hockey fields.

Collier Reserve would still need to be accessible to the general public when the park is not in use by the hockey club and trees removed during construction would need to be planted and replaced.

Former councillor Stephen Russell said at Tuesday night’s agenda briefing session the Victoria Park Australian Hockey Centre was a “pragmatic pathway” for the hockey team.

“The utilisation of the Australian Hockey Centre is the only viable and pragmatic pathway for WASPs to have access to a turf facility,” Mr Russell said.

“The utilisation of the Hockey Centre may be viewed as a compromise by WASPs but as the adage goes, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, and therefore to be so against this option considering the multiple risks of successfully implementing the Collier facility is so unreasonable.

“I believe WASPs owe it to themselves not to be so uncompromising and to have a mature, objective discussion with itself while looking at all the risks in assessing such (and) view the Hockey Centre as an opportunity rather than a hindrance and take the bird in the hand.”

But WASPs president Jenness Gardner said the recent feasibility study showed relocating the club’s proposed playing grounds to Collier Reserve was “the most logical solution”.

“The current playing fields at Richardson Park, our home of some 60 years, are no longer fit for purpose as it does not have an artificial turf,” Ms Gardner said.

“We need a single facility which incorporates an artificial hockey turf, grass grounds and a clubroom in (a) single location.

“It would be a massive blow to the aspirations and survival of community groups like ours if we are denied the opportunity to progress, having worked so hard over many years to follow the process set down by the city’s requirements.

“Collier Reserve has been used for sporting activities for decades but not to its full capacity and the city’s own long-term plan for the area is for the development of a broader range of recreational facilities for the residents of South Perth.

“There is a wonderful opportunity here for new sporting facilities to be built to serve the broader South Perth community that will benefit generations for decades to come.”

Wesley College principal Ross Barron also spoke at Tuesday night’s agenda briefing session and raised concerns that the WASPs, being a community club, would not get priority to train and play at the Australian Hockey Centre.

“There are many clubs and the most successful clubs in the State do have a home where they have their own turf, their own clubhouse and grass ground,” he said.

“With the State centre there is a hierarchy; the national teams getting first priority is a reality ... the State team’s high performance is next on the hierarchy and then what’s left is for the clubs to try and get whatever is left.”