News / Sport
Green light for second hockey club pitch
Pitch will be part of planned $10 million-plus redevelopment of McDonald Reserve
Mark Phillips
BRUNSWICK Hockey Club’s campaign for a second pitch for its swelling membership has taken a giant leap forward after Merri-bek Council endorsed a masterplan for the redevelopment of McDonald Reserve in Coburg.
Under the plan that will now be put out for public consultation, the hockey club would share facilities with East Coburg Tennis Club and Brunswick Juventus Football Club in a major redevelopment costed at close to $15 million.
McDonald Reserve was identified as the preferred site in 2023, and the new designs would include a synthetic hockey pitch running parallel to a reconfigured soccer pitch with shared lighting, a shared pavilion and storage, additional tennis courts and dedicated pickleball courts, and extra car parking. The facilities would also be available for use by Coburg High School.
The first stage of the redevelopment would consist of the hockey field, lighting and a spectator shelter. The $3.5 million cost of stage one will be referred to the council’s 2025-26 budget, with the remaining works estimated to cost more than $10 million.
The masterplan was unanimously endorsed by the council meeting on February 12.
Brunswick Hockey Club, which celebrated its centenary in 2023 and is one of the oldest clubs in Victoria, first approached the council in 2021 seeking land for a second pitch.
With a lack of available space in Brunswick, a feasibility study in 2023 looked at several locations in other parts of Merri-bek before recommending McDonald Reserve, which is located on the corner of Bell Street and Pentridge Boulevard.
Brunswick Hockey Club committee member Dean Paatsch said the club had well and truly outgrown its existing facilities of a single pitch and changing rooms which are on land belonging to Brunswick Secondary College.
“We are one of the largest sporting clubs in Merri-bek,” he said.
“We’ve got over 540 registered players across 35 teams. We’re much bigger than many soccer clubs, cricket clubs and tennis clubs.
“We’ve got one pitch, two changing rooms, no hot water, no shade, no seating … We’ve got as far as we can with our existing infrastructure.
“The feasiblity study has shown we have an overwhelming case and the council’s foresight in making available and investigation of McDonald reserve as the most suitable location has made our wait worth the while.”
Big plans for McDonald Reserve in Coburg
A key issue that still needs to be resolved will be the type of synthetic surface used for the new hockey pitch. Competition field hockey is only played on synthetic surfaces, but there are environmental concerns about the impact microplastics and other pollutants produced from surfaces that use so-called PFAS synthetic turf as they age and deteriorate, particularly when they get into waterways.
John Englart from Climate Action Merri-bek urged the council to explore non-chemical synthetic surfaces as a way to mitigate their environmental impact.
“Hockey is one of those sports that has locked itself into synthetic surfaces so there’s no other option for that sport, there’s no alternative to synthetic surfaces so I think we have to look at limitation,” he said.
Paatsch said the hockey club would do whatever was necessary to achieve a new pitch.
“We’re at the point now where I think we’ve got the agreement of most of the major users of the facility, Coburg High and others, but we know that there will be issues as we move forward – there always will be for a major project of this size.
“We are extremely flexible, we can iron them out as we go along. It’s taken such a long time to get to this point and I really beg you that we keep moving forward.
“We know that repurposing McDonald is a privilege, it’s a privilege we’re grateful for and an opportunity we respect. We will be good neighbours to Coburg High, we don’t want to build a gilded cage for old men. We want the community to use the facility and for Coburg High in particular to have the use of that facility during the day, that just makes sense.”
A further report about the plan, including the final designs, will be considered by the council in April, after public consultation has taken place.
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