A report was presented to the Council meeting of 9 December 2024 (Item 6.121) and is available to view in the Council meeting agenda. View and download the agenda & report here.

The purpose of this report was to present the Community Engagement & Feedback Report and to determine how to proceed with the lease request on a portion of Grange Recreation Reserve.

Based on the feedback from community engagement on the lease proposal and updated advice from Amplitel, the staff recommendation was to amend the proposed location of the lease site within the Reserve further north near the existing equipment shelter and cricket practice nets. This location would interfere less with sport and recreational reserve users, is further away from the sports clubrooms and playground, allows service access, and will continue to maintain the minimum 100m distance from any residential properties.

While initial instruction from Amplitel was that the proposed location was as far north as they could go to get the best service outcome for consumers, they agreed to amend the proposed location after hearing concerns expressed at the onsite community drop-in session on Saturday, 12 October. While not their preferred location, it's a compromise for the community that would still have good outcomes for service coverage and acknowledges their advice that they have exhausted any other viable locations for their infrastructure in the area.

Given this updated location was not part of the consultation process, the recommendation proposed that the initial consultation catchment area, reserve users and visitors, and all participants of the consultation be notified of the updated, proposed location. The purpose of this is to provide the community an opportunity to share any additional feedback specifically about the new location, before it's presented back to Council to decide how to proceed with the lease request.

At the meeting, Council approved the recommendation to amend the proposed lease location in the reserve. Community notification sharing the updated proposed lease location and opportunity to share any further comment on the proposal related to the new location will likely occur in February 2025, after the Christmas and school holidays, to ensure equal opportunity to participate in this process.

You can view all decisions approved by Council at the 9 December meeting in relation to this lease request by reading the relevant outcomes in the minutes here.