Sporting clubs have welcomed “long overdue” plans to upgrade a central Bendigo recreation reserve.
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Ewing Park, principally used by a number of junior football and cricket clubs and a senior cricket club, will have its oval surface upgraded and new training lighting installed by the City of Greater Bendigo as part of its draft master plan for the precinct.
Emu Valley Cricket Association outfit United Cricket Club use the oval and have been pushing the council to upgrade the reserve and its surrounding infrastructure for 18 years, according to president Shane Hartney.
“First impressions (of the Ewing Park draft master plan) is it’s really exciting – we’ve been chasing it for nearly 20 years,” he said.
Read more: Bendigo looks at Ewing Park expansion
Mr Hartney said the lights were “some of the worst in country Victoria” and the oval’s surface had declined over the years due to a faulty watering system.
He suggested Ewing Park was arguably the most central sporting venue in the city, and upgrading it would create a jewel in the town’s sporting crown.
The draft master plan includes the development of a new skate park and learn to ride park.
The oval development will include a single lane running track enclosed by a picket fence that could also be used to host other community events. Other features of the plan include outdoor gym stations and formalised car parking along Harcourt Street and Havlin Street West.
Mr Hartney said it was his understanding the development would be staged, with the oval and lighting being a high priority.
Read more: Two new skate parks planned for Bendigo
He said the range of facilities proposed, allied with the new apartment blocks being built in the area, would make the reserve a hive of activity.
City of Greater Bendigo healthy and active lifestyles manager Lincoln Fitzgerald said the draft plan sets out to create a park where people can play and be active but also where they can rest and relax.
Any submissions about the draft master plan must be sent to the COGB by Friday August 31.
The skate park is one of two proposed by the COGB, the other will be at Cooks Reserve at the corner of High and Browning streets in Kangaroo Flat, next to the new aquatic centre.
**Ewing Park draft master plan**
