What would you do with a long abandoned netball court? For a group of Mooroolbark locals, the answer seems obvious. But for the local council, things aren’t so simple.
What’s the plan? McDermott Avenue Reserve is a 1.726-hectare site, including 10 deteriorating netball courts which have sat vacant for the past 11 years.
The council endorsed a $7.5 million master plan in July, including ripping up the netball courts and retaining it as parkland, but the full delivery is not expected until June 2041 and relies on securing state and federal grants.
Local needs: Mooroolbark community advocate James Carpenter said he wanted the site rehabilitated sooner.
🗣️ “By the time this is finished, my kids will be adults,” he told the Eastern Melburnian. “In the short term, it'd just be nice to see the council at a minimum rip up all the bitumen, put in natural surfaces and plant some trees.”
How’d we get here? The Lilydale and Yarra Valley Netball Association relocated to Kilsyth in 2015, leaving the McDermott Avenue Reserve courts vacant and prompting council to consider selling it for housing.
Community advocacy later sparked a 2025 feasibility study, which found the area was still needed for local open space.
How much will this cost? The council has invested $140,000 in the 2025/26 financial year towards early works, including the demolition of the pavilion.
In the council’s 2026/27 budget, it has allocated a further $775,000 for detailed design and contract documents for the first stage of works, which include initial ground works.
Stage 1 is estimated to cost about $2.7 million and would require at least $1.7 million in state grant funding. The council has applied for $250,000 in the latest round of the state government’s Pick My Park program.
Even if it receives this funding, the first stage won't be delivered in full before mid-to-late 2027.
The remaining stages are estimated to cost $4.8 million and will also depend on future advocacy and funding requests.
The 10 netball courts have been allowed to deteriorate for more than 10 years.
What’s next? Yarra Ranges council acting director of planning and sustainable futures, Damian Closs, said each stage would have to be delivered in full, rather than piecemeal.
🗣️ “These Stage 1 works include essential site remediation and recontouring and cannot be safely or efficiently delivered in smaller stages,” he told the Eastern Melburnian.