Perth Voice Interactive

BAYSWATER croquet and tennis clubs are unleashing their mallets and racquets on a $25 million revamp of Frank Drago Reserve.

The reserve is home to local soccer, tennis, bowling and croquet clubs and the council has released its draft masterplan for the site.

Croquet club treasurer Trevor Ashby is “very disappointed” with plans to halve the 83-year-old club’s greens.

“We currently have two greens but under the preferred proposal we will be down to one,” he says.

Impossible for tournaments

“This will make it impossible for us to hold tournaments and accommodate our members, as you can only have a maximum of eight people on one green at a time.

“We play five days a week, all year round, and I feel that because we have an older age group and play a niche sport we have been sidelined.”

Tennis club president Dan Kerrigan says it is “completely unacceptable” his club will lose at least one court and have its 10 grass courts replaced with hard courts.

“We have around 500 kids on our books, playing seven days a week,” he says.

“So to lose a court is completely unacceptable, as is the loss of our traditional grass courts, which our older players love.

“The plan also recommends that all clubs share one clubhouse—I think that might be problematic in terms of booking functions and 150 kids running about when the bowlers and croquet players are trying to relax.”

Bayswater City Soccer Club is the big winner, scoring three full-size pitches and two junior pitches.

It was the club’s request for an expansion that kickstarted the masterplan process last year. “We need to check that the full-size pitches are the right size and conform to FFA standards,” says club committee member Greg D’Orazio. “That was the catalyst for this whole redesign, as the pitches had to conform by 2016 to host NPL matches.

“I wouldn’t like to see any of the other clubs downsized in this process.”

Bowling club president Clive Baldwinson says he is “pretty happy” as his club retains its current facilities and gets a retractable roof on its greens.

The masterplan includes a nature-themed play space, dedicated zones for dog walkers, and more parking.

A community drop-in session will be held April 23 at The Drill Hall in Murray Street and the draft is out for public consultation till May 8. The council hopes to have it all built by 2019.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK