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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-20 Daily Xml
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Marion Tennis Club

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (15:28): I stand today to show my support for the Marion Tennis Club. Three weeks ago, the Marion council met behind closed doors, had a confidential meeting and determined to bulldoze the Marion Tennis Club. Two weeks later, last Wednesday night, they had a meeting with the president of the Marion Tennis Club to let them know that the club was no longer welcome on Marion council land, where it has been home for 90 years. This is outrageous. Twelve hours later, they put out a media release letting the community know that the Marion Tennis Club was going to be bulldozed.

There was no consultation. No-one had an inkling that this was coming. It is a club with a proud 90-year history. Why are they doing this? To their credit, South Adelaide Basketball Club, a successful club which I support in our community, is getting an expansion, and all credit to them for winning government funding and local council funding for the expansion, but what that has meant is that the council intends to build the courts on Marion Tennis Club land.

Of course, no sports club wants to see another sports club sacrificed. We are all here for the same reasons—for participation, for competition, for a healthy lifestyle, for mental wellbeing and to encourage our kids to play competitive sports. There is a sport for everybody, and every sport should be welcomed and supported in the Marion council, and that is not the case.

In fact, the council has form. I have only been in this job for two years, and in these two years this is now the second sports club that the Marion council has demolished. It was only about 18 months ago that they got rid of the croquet club. Once again, it was deemed insignificant—not enough members—and therefore not worthy of being supported by the Marion council. They did this so that they can build an ice arena on the grounds of the Marion Croquet Club. The ice arena is a private venture, which means the council looks to be bringing in 42 years of rent off that site.

There are lots of sports clubs on this land, and they are growing. They all have great plans for the future because people want to participate in everything they have to offer, but, because the council is so invested in this ice arena, the clubs that want to grow are all on hold and have been for 18 months. The cricket club has not been able to put up the nets that it wants to because the council is still not able to tell them what the ultimate plans will look like.

This ice arena, whilst worthy in possibly another location, is not in the right location there on Sturt Road, and it is not supported by the local community. Many of you will know that the Marion Road and Sturt Road intersection is the worst in Adelaide for crashes. The stretch along Sturt Road has a very high number of rear-end crashes right where people will be coming on and off to access the ice arena. Of course, local residents are worried about parking. Lots of our elderly people use the community club as well, and they are worried about their safety. There is not a lot of support in the community for the ice arena at this location.

The Marion Tennis Club has a proud 90-year history. They have just appointed a new coach who has a history with the club, and everyone is very excited for the skills that he can bring to the club. Of course, it is not just competition tennis that gets played on these courts. There are juniors, social tennis and cardio tennis, so lots of people in our community are accessing these clubs. Unfortunately, the consultation did not even stretch as far as the Norfolk Estate retirement village, which is next door. Next door, there are 136 properties of elderly people, who also have concerns about the expansion of the basketball club right next door to them.

This is a large space. There is room for all sports clubs in our community. The Marion council needs to prioritise our community clubs and not just go after the big dollars of the ice arena. People should be able to participate in the sport of their choosing, and they are all available in the Marion area until they are bulldozed by the council. I was so pleased to be at the clubrooms last night. The club is going to fight this, and I stand with them.

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