2025.136 - Southern Sector Concept Design
The Mount Barker District Council (“Council”) is seeking to engage a suitably qualified Consultant to provide concept planning and design which considers athletics and soccer facilities at the former Polo Grounds.
As Mount Barker's population continues to grow, so too does the demand for quality sport and recreation facilities. The Southern Sector Playing Fields, located at 3 Polo Drive (formerly known as the Polo Grounds), presents a strategic opportunity to address critical gaps in sporting infrastructure. This approximately 19-acre site, currently featuring a 300sqm hireable function space, has been identified as the optimal location for major sporting facility development.
Local government has a critical role in providing sport and recreation infrastructure that meets community needs—a responsibility reflected in Council's 2035 Open Space Lead Strategy and The Sports and Recreation Action Plan. These strategic documents establish a vision for facilities that evolve with the district's growth and define a hierarchy of sporting grounds to guide investment decisions. By identifying areas of deficiency and oversupply, these plans ensure infrastructure development is prioritized according to evidence-based demand and future growth projections.
Extensive consultation with community and sporting groups has revealed significant unmet demand for soccer training fields and athletics facilities. Strategic analysis confirms that the Southern Sector Playing Fields can accommodate both a regional level athletics facility and a district level soccer facility, positioning the site as a major sporting precinct for the Mount Barker district.
Council is seeking proposals from a suitably qualified consultant team to undertake concept design and preliminary design (to 30% detailed design documentation) for the Southern Sector Playing Fields.
The consultancy is to be completed by June 2026