Roxburgh Park Football Club hopes its Lakeside Drive Reserve home ground will be the next sports precinct to be upgraded by Hume council, after being overlooked this year.
The council last month released draft plans for upgrading three reserves across the city, paving the way for close to $8 million in works.
Craigieburn’s DS Aitken Reserve, Westmeadows’ Willowbrook Reserve and Sunbury’s John McMahon Reserve will benefit from the cash splash. But Roxburgh Park club president Jason Bolitho said Lakeside Drive Reserve also needed an upgrade.
He said the pavilion was part of a relocatable building, which was once the Vic Urban sales office, and it didn’t meet the club’s needs.
The reserve’s changerooms also needed to be upgraded to accommodate the club’s women’s team, and floodlights needed to be improved to allow night matches to be played at Roxburgh Park.
Mr Bolitho said the works would help attract more spectators to matches and help the club become self-sufficient.
“People will come to night matches when the canteen and bar tick over and the community comes together. From there, people will come to watch games every week,” he said.
Mr Bolitho said the club had heard the council announce upgrades to other reserves, and it felt Lakside Drive Reserve had been left behind.
“We’re not looking for a hand-out from the council but a hand-up. We’re not asking for anything that others wouldn’t expect to get.”
Council corporate services director Daryl Whitfort said the council planned to begin developing a master plan for Lakeside Drive Reserve early next year.
He said the council recently upgraded the reserve’s carpark, while work to upgrade the changerooms to accommodate male and female players and improve lighting was subject to final approval by council for this financial year.
