The new multi-sport pitch will be on the western side of the school campus.
Schools & Clubs
Unley High School
Unley High School is located on Kitchener St in Netherby and has approximately 1560 enrolled year 7 to year 12 students in 2022. There is no modern multi-sport playing surface currently available on the school grounds for student or community use. Many students play hockey, including for Forestville Hockey Club.
Forestville Hockey Club
Forestville Hockey Club is the oldest hockey club in Australia, established in 1905. It is a family-orientated community-based sports club which is run by volunteers to serve its members. The club has 300 playing members; most are residents in the Mitcham and Unley council areas.
The club has a strong connection with Unley High School and the local area, having merged with the Kingswood Hockey Club in 1993. The multi-sport pitch will ensure the club can continue its proud tradition of promoting and advancing hockey at both junior and senior levels in the south-eastern suburbs of Adelaide.
The club is currently based at Millswood but has had to train and play competition-grade hockey at Gepps Cross for many years. The Millswood site is undersized for a competition-grade hockey pitch. Continuing to travel to Gepps Cross and pay increasing pitch rental fees is unviable. The club will relinquish its Millswood site when it relocates to Unley High, freeing up green space in the inner south community.
“Forestville Hockey Club is pleased to have helped secure funding for this important community asset and looks forward to playing at the new pitch. This is a new chapter in our long history and our members are excited by the prospect of using the facilities.”
Paul Blenkiron
President, Forestville Hockey Club
Project & Location
Project Funding
A total of $4.161M has been secured for the project including:
$2.995M State Government
$1.021M Federal Government
$140,000 Local Government
The school and club are grateful for the considerable investment provided by all levels of government.
Site Selection
The selection of the site involved a review of more than 20 locations across southern metropolitan Adelaide and was based on the following criteria:
community impacts
shared use arrangements
maximising the use of the facilities
site terrain
civil engineering costs
size of land available
north-south land alignment to ensure player safety, and
zoning.
In 2020 the then state government proposed the location at Unley High School as the most suitable site for a multi-sport pitch providing maximum benefit to the local community and return on investment.
Further site assessment and review was conducted under the new state government in 2022 and the Unley High School site was again confirmed as the most suitable site.
Location
The new all weather sports pitch will be located on the western side of the school grounds, between the public tennis courts on Balham Reserve and the existing Life Be In It gymnasium. It will be located at the northern-most end of that space. This land is owned by the Minister for Education.
The area is surrounded by Unley High School buildings, playing fields and Urrbrae High School paddocks on three sides. On the western side is Balham Reserve which is already developed with a lit bike path and public walkway, providing a 25 metre buffer to the nearest residences. The school’s southern soccer pitch and oval will remain as open grassed areas available to the community outside of school hours. No significant trees will be affected by the development.
Unley High School supports the new multi-sport pitch.
“We are thrilled with the support provided by local, state and federal governments to increase our local school and community access to sporting facilities. The investment in sporting and community assets will enable the School’s commitment to our students’ academic, sporting, cultural and social successes, and our wider contributions to the community.”
Unley High School Principal
Greg Rolton
Government Policies
Local, state, and federal government policies support the development of shared-use facilities at schools as they increase community access to sports facilities and optimise the investment in sporting and community assets.
The state government’s commitment to shared-use facilities is outlined in Infrastructure SA’s 20 Year Strategy.
Many SA schools have the facilities for local sports clubs built on their land and the majority of school’s allow access to their premises to sports and community groups.
“Operators of community assets (schools/community sporting groups) will need to work closely together to get the maximum use out of infrastructure. New facilities will need to be designed to cater for a range of different sports and activities to enable higher rates of utilisation and benefit to the community.”
Infrastructure SA – 20 Year State Infrastructure Strategy