The City of Melville would like to clarify what is happening with the John Connell Reserve Field Extension with the below FAQs:
What decision did Council make about John Connell Reserve?
The City of Melville Council endorsed a field extension option at John Connell Reserve in Leeming at the Tuesday, 21 April 2026 Ordinary Meeting of Council.
The Council agreed to:
1. Endorse the John Connell Field Extension Project.
2. Seek an amendment to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation Clearing Permit timeframes to deliver the Project.
3. Work with the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club and the Federal Government to transfer the election commitment funding of ~$470,000.
4. Seek Government funding to offset 50% of the City's contribution, of the estimated project costs sporting field extension and flood lighting.
5.Inclusion of $200,000 in the Draft 2026/2027 Annual Budget for detailed design for the Project.
6. Include the project in the Long-Term Financial Plan including:
a) the remaining Project costs (excluding revegetation) of $3,184,991, which
includes $470,000 of income from the Leeming Spartans Cricket Club, for the
financial years 2027/2028 and 2028/2029.
b) revegetation costs for the four years following construction.
Is the Council’s endorsement of the field extension subject to any conditions?
The endorsement is subject to the City securing the reallocation of $470,000 from the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, and an amendment in timeframes for the clearing permit.
What is included in the field extension?
The concept includes a second 55m cricket pitch, up to four soccer fields (total), sports floodlighting and re-turfing to maximise field space.
What is the history behind the field extension?
The need for additional fields at John Connell Reserve was first identified formally by the City within the Active Reserve Infrastructure Strategy 2020 (ARIS).
The ARIS identified the future need post 2026 based on forecast population increases to meet the needs of soccer and cricket, given there are limited opportunities for increasing active open space due to the City being a built-out urban environment.
The ARIS also cited that if the bushland (to the east of existing playing fields) was able to be cleared the soccer/cricket fields could be expanded.
In March 2022, Member for Tangney, Sam Lim made an election commitment of $650,000 to support the field extension and upgrade cricket infrastructure.
In June 2022, the Council agreed to:
1. Allow the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club to submit a vegetation clearing application for an area of 0.65ha to the east of the existing playing fields.
2. Advise the Clubs that it is the City's preference to work in conjunction with the clubs to manage the planning, design and construction works associated with the oval extension, should this proceed
What was the reason of the April 2026 decision?
Council’s decision follows the preparation of a Business Case that explored various options, with Council proceeding with a concept to achieve the outcome of additional cricket field and soccer training and playing space.
The endorsement of the field extension proposal supports local sporting club sustainability by providing additional sporting infrastructure to meet the needs of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club and Leeming Striker Soccer Club to allow for more teams, training sessions and community use to occur at the recreation reserve.
Extending the sporting fields aligns with the City’s outcome of creating healthy, safe and inclusive communities with a sense of belonging through the provision of inclusive, multipurpose places and facilities to encourage healthy lifestyles and wellbeing.
Option 3 in the Business Case included no clearing and the playing fields would be reconfigured to achieve an additional cricket field, why wasn’t this option chosen?
This was not supported by either Leeming Spartan Cricket Club or Leeming Striker Soccer Club as it would reduce field sizes and diminish the quality of offering supplied by each club.
How will the field extension be funded and what impact will it have on my Rates?
The final funding mix for the field extension is yet to be confirmed.
The City will seek an amount of 50% ($1,692,495.50) of estimated project costs, excluding revegetation costs, from the State Government or Federal Government that is in-line with the currently inactive Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund to reduce the City’s contribution to the overall project.
$200,000 has been included in the Draft Annual Budget 2026-2027 for the detailed designed work for the John Connell Field Extension in the budget which is scheduled to be adopted in June 2026.
This proposed $200,000 allocation does not directly increase your rates.
A number of various factors impact rate setting and the $200,000 represents a very small proportion of the City’s overall budget (approximately 0.085%) and is already accommodated within the Draft Annual Budget 2026–2027.
The remaining budget amount has now been added to the Long Term Financial Plan in accordance with the April 2026 Council resolution:
o 2027/28 $3,184,991 - Construction
o 2028/29 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
o 2029/30 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
o 2030/31 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
o 2031/32 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
Maintenance costs for the first four years have already been factored into the overall project budget and therefore do not represent an additional funding requirement.
Why is the City responsible for the financial commitment required to fulfil the conditions of the clearing permit?
John Connell Reserve is a public recreation reserve on City managed land. The City manages this land and has approved the project to proceed at the April 2026 Ordinary Meeting of Council, therefore is ultimately responsible for the costs related to this decision
How many trees are proposed to be cleared?
The Department of Water and Environmental clearing permit is for 0.68ha of vegetation, which contains about 200 trees, which includes Banksia Woodland species of trees and shrubs.
What work will be done to offset the loss of these trees?
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s approval for the clearing permit was subject to the revegetation of Ken Hurst Park, which is located 800m southeast from the proposed clearing area.
The program will include planting and direct seeding of native species representative of local Banksia woodlands, with a focus on supporting habitat and food sources for black cockatoos.
The project scope includes 1.63 hectares of cleared areas at Ken Hurst Park will be revegetated, with around 30,000 native plants to be established to offset the vegetation clearing at John Connell Reserve.
How will the City look after mature trees that are transplanted?
At the Ordinary Council Meeting held on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, Council resolved that the City investigate the feasibility of transplanting trees and grass trees from the area proposed to be cleared at John Connell Reserve.
The City is currently undertaking assessment works to determine which vegetation may be suitable for transplanting. A detailed report, including findings and recommendations, will be presented to Council later this year. A report is scheduled for consideration at an Ordinary Meeting of Council later this calendar year, ; however, the timing of final outcomes will depend on completion of these investigations.
What benefit will this project bring to community sport in the area?
The field extension proposal supports the sustainability of local sporting clubs by providing additional sporting infrastructure to meet the current and future needs of current soccer and cricket in the area. It also can have a flow on effect to other sports, by freeing up space at other reserves used by these clubs, given the planned expanded area at John Connell Reserve..
Is it true that this project is unplanned and unbudgeted?
No, it is not true that the extension of this oval is unplanned and unbudgeted.
The opportunity and initial needs were first identified in the Active Reserve Infrastructure Strategy, 2020.
Following the project securing external Federal funding and a Council decision in June 2022 to support a clearing permit application, further work had been undertaken including the City in assisting in providing required documents for the clearing permit application process and development of a Master Plan. As part of the Master Plan process (which is yet to be finalised, although scheduled to be presented to Council in 2027), community engagement had been undertaken on two options; the field extension and building an oval on the former landfill area which engagement had the community divided.
As the City was unsure of the outcome of the clearing permit application, funds had not been allocated in the Long Term Financial Plan at the time.
While the Master Plan has yet to be finalised, an outcome of the clearing permit application from DWER had been provided. Given the commitment of Federal funding and timeframes associated with the clearing permit a decision was needed to be made on the project to provide direction and subsequently a Business Case was prepared, which was presented to Council in April 2026.
Following the clearing permit outcome and a decision by Council on the project, provisions have been made in budgets and the Long Term Financial Plan:
An amount of $200,000 has been allocated within the 2026/27 Draft budget to undertake design and documentation works.
- The remaining budget amount has now been added to the Long Term Financial Plan in accordance with the April 2026 Council resolution:
o 2027/28 $3,184,991 - Construction
o 2028/29 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
o 2029/30 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
o 2030/31 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
o 2031/32 $ 325,000 - Revegetation
Why is this project being prioritised?
The future use and development of John Connell Recreation Reserve has been a longstanding area of investigation and planning by the City and Council. Previous Council decisions included progressing a Master Plan for the broader 122-hectare reserve and investigating opportunities to improve sporting infrastructure at the site, including upgrades requested by local sporting clubs.
The City has been exploring how the reserve can continue to meet the needs of sporting clubs, local residents and the broader community, while balancing environmental considerations and the long-term future of the reserve.
The current proposal forms part of these broader investigations and long-term planning considerations for the reserve.
The project is now progressing due to the approved clearing permit timeframes and the need to make decisions within those approval periods.
Importantly a decision is needed to be made on the project due to the following:
- Timeframesunder the current clearing permit
- Federal Government funding is tied to the project
- The topic has been along standing item of Council
We understand there are differing views of the community on this topic, which is reflected in the debate and voting by Council at its meeting in April 2026.
The City will continue to mitigate the environmental impact of the clearing during the detailed design phase.
Has there been a needs analysis completed?
A separate Needs Analysis has not been completed, although this is not unusual for the size and scale of this project.
Importantly, the need for the field extension has been identified initially through the Active Reserve Infrastructure Strategy 2020 (ARIS), where it identified a likely shortfall in both cricket and soccer pitches post 2026 based on a project requirement due to forecast population increases.
The ARIS identified that John Connell is one of only a limited amount of opportunities to increase active public open space across the City and acknowledged that any field extension is subject to clearing permit process and recommended a master planning process to be completed.
While the City is has drafted a master plan for the site, this has not been completed as further investigations in relation to addressing the contamination requirements to be the broader vision of the master plan still needs to be completed. This work is currently being undertaken and is scheduled to be presented to Council in 2027.
The draft master plan had outlined two options to increase active public open space, being extending the current reserve by clearing remnant bushland or constructing on top of the former landfill site, immediately east of the remnant bushland.
Public consultation was undertaken on both of these options, with the community divided on each option.
Given a clearing application had been lodged and an outcome was provided to allow clearing in June 2025, a Business Case was prepared for Council to consider clearing remnant bushland against other available options.
Within the Business Case, the following needs were identified:
Within a 5km catchment, until 2041 the forecast population is expected to increase by 26,257 persons (from 109,086 to 135,613).
- In that same catchment:
- The percentage of overall population of 5 – 17 years olds declines from 16.9% (2021) to 14.2% (2041). This results in a net increase in persons of approximately 822.
- The percentage of the overall population 70 and above is expected to increase from 13.2% in 2021 to 20.2% in 2041.
- The Cricket Clubs main home ground is John Connell Reserve; however, the club also uses the following reserves for home games:
- Peter Ellis Park,Leeming
- Trevor Gribble Reserve, Bull Creek
- Webber Reserve, Willagee.
- The Cricket Club and Soccer Clubs cite that membership growth could occur if it had access to further fields.
- All sporting reserves across theCitythat have cricket pitches are fully booked during the cricket season.
- There are limited opportunities in the City of Melville to createadditionalsporting reserves,as being a built-up urban environment, there is limited public open spaceremainingthat can be developed for this purpose.
- In suitable proximity, several sporting reserves are on the horizon in the City of Cockburn including:
- Prinsep Park, Jandakot (~4km away)
- Jandakot-TreebyUrban Expansion Area – potential fouradditionalplaying fields (~4km)
- TreebyEast Oval,Treeby(~6km away)
- Phase 1 of the Canning Vale Sports Complex,locatedacross Roe Highway in the City of Canning is also scheduled for delivery in 2029.
- While these reserves are planned, they are outside of the City of Melville and as a result access for both the Cricket and Soccer Club cannot be guaranteed.
If the clearing approval has already been submitted to, or granted by, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation or the EPA, what additional procedural steps would be required to halt or withdraw that application?
The clearing permit application for John Connell Reserve has been submitted and approved by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.
There is no longer an active application to withdraw.
If Council decided not to progress with the clearing, no additional approval is required to stop the project.
What is happening at the former landfill site at John Connell Reserve?
The City has appointed a specialist consultant to undertake environmental testing and work with required consultants, external auditors and relevant State Government stakeholders to clearly understand the requirements and estimated costs to remediate the site in line with the vision of the Draft Master Plan.
When will a Special Meeting of Electors take place?
The Special Meeting of Electors will take place at 6.00pm on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 in the Kambarang (Conference Room) at the Melville Civic Centre.
What is the purpose of the Special Meeting of Electors?
Under the Local Government Act 1995, Special Meetings of Electors are designed to allow an avenue for electors of the City to request a meeting to discuss specific or urgent issues of public interest.
The request for this Special Meeting of Electors was signed by 410 electors for the purpose of considering the John Connell Cricket Pitch Project, including the following matters:
- The proposed clearing of approximately 209 mature native trees and 0.68 hectares of remnant native vegetation at John Connell Reserve.
- The absence of a clearlydemonstratedstrategic need for the proposed cricket pitch expansion.
- Reliance on potentially outdated cost estimates and the absence of secured external funding.
- Potential financial impacts on future rates,borrowingsand capital works priorities.
- Insufficient assessment of alternative options that may avoid orsubstantially reduceenvironmental impacts.
- Concernsregardinggovernance processes, transparency and evidence-based decision making.
To submit a motion or question, visit https://www.melvillecity.com.au/things-to-do/events/whats-on/special-meeting-of-electors-23-june-2026
Are Elected Members required to attend the Special Meeting of Electors?
Elected Members are not required to attend Electors meetings, however are strongly encouraged to. This allows them an opportunity to hear the community’s perspective on the particular issue prior to any motions being presented to the Council for consideration.
Can I attend the Special Meeting of Electors?
Arrangements had been made for the meeting, including an overflow area, to accommodate everyone interested in attending.
The overflow area will have a screen and audio linked to the meeting room, and those in attendance who are Electors of the City of Melville will be able to participate in any vote.
The Civic Centre is the preferred venue as it is suitably equipped with the necessary technology to meet legislative requirements for live streaming the meeting, while ensuring the meeting can accommodate a large number of electors and can be delivered in a cost-effective and practical manner.
We encourage interested members of the community to refer to the City’s event page on our website as this will continue to be updated with relevant information.
For those who prefer – community members can watch the meeting from the comfort of their own home via the live stream of the meeting available on the City of Melville YouTube channel.”
What happens with motions passed at an Electors’ Special Meeting?
All motions carried at Electors’ Meetings are brought before the Council for consideration either at the next Ordinary Council Meeting, or if that’s not possible, the subsequent Council meeting.
If Council makes a decision in response to a motion carried at an Electors’ Meeting, the reasons for the decision are recorded in the minutes of the Council meeting.
What community engagement has taken place in regards to the field extension?
The John Connell field extension was first identified formally by the City within the Active Reserve Infrastructure Strategy 2020 (ARIS), which was informed by a community engagement process.
The John Connell Reserve Master Plan has included extensive community engagement, however it should be noted that in relation to the topic of the field extension, the community was divided.
Further engagement as part of the Business Case process was undertaken with stakeholders that would be impacted by a future decision of Council.
How does the City and the Elected Members reconcile proceeding with an outcome opposed by the consulted reference group with its commitments under the Reconciliation Action Plan?
Prior to the preparation of the Business Case, and as part of the John Connell Reserve Master Plan process in late 2023, the Whadjuk Noongar Reference Group (Reference Group) was advised of the June 2022 Council resolution authorising the Leeming Spartans Cricket Club to apply for a native vegetation clearing permit. Officers also advised that the views of the Reference Group should be considered by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation as part of its statutory decision‑making process.
The views of the Reference Group were clearly articulated within both the Council Item and the Business Case so that Elected Members could consider cultural, environmental and reconciliation impacts alongside the broader strategic, financial and operational factors. Within the Business Case, the potential risk to reconciliation efforts was explicitly identified.
While Council ultimately resolved to proceed with the project, the City acknowledges that this outcome did not align with the position of the Reference Group. In keeping with the commitments of the Reconciliation Action Plan, the City will continue to work with First Nations stakeholders to mitigate impacts and strengthen cultural outcomes. This includes exploring cultural land management opportunities within John Connell Reserve and Ken Hurst Park, enhancing edge/interface protection, and embedding cultural design principles into future planning and implementation.
How did the City notify the community about DWER’s public feedback process?
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA), the responsibility for administering the clearing permit application process, including public advertising and the invitation for submissions, rests with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) as the assessing authority.
DWER undertook public advertising of the application in accordance with its statutory requirements, which are designed to ensure procedural fairness and provide the community with an opportunity to comment. While clearing permit applications generally include a public comment period, the City was not advised of the timing of this process and was therefore unable to independently notify the community when submissions were being accepted.
The City relied on DWER's legislated process to fulfil the formal consultation requirements associated with the application. As the City was neither the decision-maker nor the administering authority, it did not have a prescribed role in independently managing or promoting the public comment period.
Once notified, the City updated the project webpage to reflect the application and provide relevant information. Following DWER's conditional approval of the permit on 30 June 2025, the City also notified project page followers via direct email of the opportunity to lodge an appeal and provided a link to the relevant information on DWER's website.
What is happening with the John Connell Reserve Master Plan?
The John Connell Reserve Master Plan is currently being worked on. The City has appointed a specialist consultant to undertake environmental testing and work with required consultants, external auditors and relevant State Government stakeholders to clearly understand the requirements and estimated costs to remediate the site in line with the vision of the Draft Master Plan. It is expected the Draft Master Plan will be presented to Council in 2027.