Sticky wicket: The fight over mooted $6 million David Warner sporting facility

The cricket club and Maroubra Lions Rugby League Football Club, part of Souths Juniors, are the chief sporting stakeholders.

Community use of the council-owned building on Storey Street, including five cricket lanes with retractable nets, “would be considered in any lease/licence/hire agreement with the clubs”, the council has said.

Ageing toilets, change rooms and a car park would be upgraded in phase two of the project, costing a further $7 million. Residents agree that update is overdue, but the federal grant is not for this work.

Stephen Hafer, who lives opposite the park, said this was “about a community coming together to oppose something that we believe is out of proportion and scale for the local amenity and the size of this park”.

Hafer said about 80 per cent of Snape Park was “already highly utilised for sports”.

“Ultimately, I think one of the failings here … of council is not bringing the community on the journey and expecting that this was going to be an appropriate use of a highly valued community park,” Hafer said.

Ella Israel, a long-time local, said the plan would result in the loss of a piece of “beautiful open space in the middle of suburbia”.

The effect on local wildlife, including rainbow lorikeets and yellow-tailed black cockatoos, was also of concern, as was air, noise and light pollution and increased traffic congestion.

Greens councillor Philipa Veitch, a former Randwick mayor, said existing outdoor cricket nets “could easily be covered with a shade and wet weather structure if needed, and at a much lower cost”.

Veitch said the council had a longstanding commitment to upgrade the toilets and change rooms, and funding had been allocated through special rate variations.

“I would be very concerned if council proposed to use these funds for an indoor cricket facility,” she said.

Former Australian cricketer and television personality Mike Whitney, president of the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, defended the plan and said it was a “community centre for our local kids to get off their computers and their phones and come and play cricket or rugby league”.

“I’m a local resident. The facilities there are the same as they were when I was a kid,” the 66-year-old Whitney said.

A former indoor training facility at the Sydney Cricket Ground had moved to Homebush, and other nets proved difficult to book. In practical terms, there was “nowhere to train” in wet weather.

Whitney said the club had been playing at the park for 120 years and contributed “a lot of dollars” for ground maintenance.

“When the centre’s finally open … anybody can come and hire those nets,” Whitney said. He expected schools would use the centre.

“I’ve got no dramas sitting down with any of these people and talking to them about the facility and coming to some sort of compromise.”

A council spokesperson said the concept plan was in an “early stage of consultation”. Preliminary results of community feedback showed support for the centre, but some residents raised concerns about its size and location.

“This feedback is helpful to staff who will soon present councillors with a report summarising the issues and recommending any changes that could be made to address these concerns.

“Snape Park is a valuable open space, and we are confident the community’s feedback will assist council in ensuring the upgrade will meet the needs of all those who use the park.”