Melville residents' attempt to halt a $4.68 million cricket pitch expansion at John Connell Reserve has backfired, as a special electors meeting on Tuesday night voted to accelerate the project, which involves clearing more than 200 trees.
Meeting Outcome Favours Cricket Club
Hundreds of community members attended the meeting, including environmental representatives and members of the Leeming Spartans Cricket Club, which applied for the field extension in 2022. The meeting was triggered by a petition with 410 valid elector signatures presented to the city in May, urging councillors to reconsider the project. The petition was organised by Jason Meotti and Esther Cole, convenors of the Bull Creek Leeming Community Action Group and Melville Tree Canopy Advocates, respectively.
Despite presenting three separate motions, the project's critics were outvoted. Spartans committee member Adam Seaward then presented a fourth motion to bring forward land clearing works, which passed 114 votes to 82. His successful motion will be presented for council consideration at its next ordinary meeting in July.
New Timeline and Staged Delivery
Mr Seaward's motion amends the current delivery timeframe, stipulating that "clearing and associated early works" should begin between January and March next year. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) approved the Spartans' land clearing application in 2025, with the condition that all native vegetation must be cleared by July 23, 2027.
The motion also calls for a staged delivery, allowing the club to prioritise a field extension before floodlighting upgrades and other "non time-critical" works. "This is a critical project that affects sport throughout the City of Melville. It also takes a practical, measured, and responsible approach," Mr Seaward said. "No one has put forward a realistic, funded, deliverable alternative that meets the need now. Not in five years. Not another master plan. Not another review. Now."
Background and Opposition
The John Connell Reserve master plan previously focused on remediating a former landfill site for more sporting facilities, which would not have required vegetation clearing. That plan was paused in 2024 when the Spartans applied for a permit to clear 209 native plants across 0.68 hectares of bushland. Mr Seaward told the meeting the club had been calling for more capacity since 2010 and that the landfill site was not a realistic solution. "This is not just about one cricket club wanting something nice. This is about playing space. It is about capacity. It is about whether local clubs can continue to absorb growing demand, particularly from juniors and increasingly from women and girls," he said.
Residents opposing the project are concerned about bushland clearing and argue the council is unfairly prioritising the expensive project. Questions have also been raised about transparency and lack of community consultation. In his motions, Mr Meotti asked the council to pause the extension, reactivate the master plan, and remove project costs from the city's budget. The motions were lost 87-114, 82-116, and 79-118, respectively. Mr Meotti said pausing the project could allow more thorough consultations and suggested pursuing a John Connell community precinct benefiting residents "beyond individual clubs."
Financial and Environmental Concerns
Some $200,000 allocated in the 2026/27 budget for detailed design work was not fair on ratepayers, Mr Meotti argued. "There is no certainty regarding final costs, there is no certainty regarding timing, and there is no certainty regarding future budget impacts," he said. "If there is no certainty that construction will proceed, then why should ratepayers be expected to fund preparatory expenditure now?"
Melville councillors voted to approve the pitch project in April, allowing the Spartans to clear up to 0.68ha of bushland. The club has since claimed it only plans to clear 0.35ha. The clearing permit, approved by DWER, also enforced a $1.3 million replanting project at nearby Ken Hurst Reserve to offset environmental impacts. Friends of Ken Hurst Park convenor and environmental engineer Eddy Wajon, who has opposed land clearing for 10 years, said the group raised doubts about the likely success of the revegetation. "We think it'll be very difficult to obtain the required revegetation in the timeframe. Revegetation in Ken Hurst Park is very difficult," Dr Wajon said. He said the city should "bite the bullet" and prioritise landfill remediation works at the reserve, which would provide longer-term gain. "The chances are we'll be doing both. We'll be spending $5 million for this and $15 or $20 million for the rehabilitation of the landfill. That is very irresponsible spending of money when it could all be done in one lot and everyone will be satisfied," he said.
Mr Seaward's motion will be presented for council consideration at the July ordinary meeting.
