As the Adelaide Park Lands Management Strategy (APLMS) states, the Park Lands are for all South Australians, including city users who utilise the Park Lands as Adelaide’s hub for sport and recreation. Community sports accounts for 20% of visitation amongst the diverse uses of the Park Lands. This usage is predicted to increase in alignment with population projections across the Greater Adelaide region, community expectations for accessible and inclusive community sport infrastructure, and pressures on inner ring Councils to seek access to open space.

Within the 685 hectares of Park Lands under the care and control of the City of Adelaide (CoA), there are 118 buildings. 63 of these buildings are related to sport, with 55 of the 63 sports buildings owned by the City of Adelaide (CoA).

A number of these buildings require upgrades to meet evolving community needs (particularly in relation to increasing female and junior participation in sport) and ensure facilities are functional, safe and sustainable.

In the latter half of 2022, Council Administration developed an ‘Investing in Community Sports Infrastructure: Discussion Paper’ following identification of the opportunity to strengthen the Park Lands community use asset base to meet functional, accessibility, safety, amenity and environmental objectives, standards and expectations set by the City of Adelaide. The Discussion Paper recommended a robust approach to improving community sports infrastructure on the Park Lands through a co-investment funding policy.

On 2 May 2023, a workshop was held with Council Members to obtain feedback on a proposed co-investment strategy to improve Park Lands sites containing community recreation and sport infrastructure. The workshop provided Council Members with several key messages including:

• half of all city residents were aged between 20-39 (49.8%) compared to only a quarter of South Australians 26%
• population growth in the city and surrounding residential areas along with urban infill is placing increased demand on the Park Lands
• of the approximately nine million annual Park Lands visits, organised sport made up 20% of these visits
• the extent of formal sporting areas in the Park Lands has reduced by approximately 28 hectares or 19% over the last 30 to 40 years
• spatially, organised sports facilities represent around 14% of the Park Lands, with only 2.5% of these facilities currently restricting access outside their usage times
• Park Lands community leasees are responsible for all maintenance and operational costs
• relative to local government in Australia, CoA charges relatively high community lease and licence fees and provides low levels of financial support
• CoA does not presently budget for the renewal of community leased and licensed infrastructure in the Park Lands
• the current leased asset renewal process is triggered, led and funded by lessees, resulting in Park Lands sport facilities and buildings that:
  1. are unsightly, dated and not fit-for-purpose
  2. service a single user group and/or purpose
  3. are disconnected with other Park Lands facilities and landscapes
  4. do not meet community facility standards

On 27 June 2023, Council requested Council Administration present ‘a report providing policy options for Park Lands buildings for the provision of fit for purpose facilities including toilets, changerooms and storage’.

On 10 October 2023, Council approved public consultation on the Draft Park Lands Community Buildings (Sport and Recreation) Policy.