A BLUEPRINT for the future of the city's largest suburban sports and recreation hub has been given the green light, starting with a $1.25 million makeover for Adamstown Park.
The first stage of the Adamstown Park Masterplan opened in July, bringing significant upgrades with it to Myers Park including new drainage, fencing, covered seats, fitness stations, a running and walking track and half basketball and bat ball courts.
Future plans for the 13ha project are detailed in the City of Newcastle's (CN) 15-year masterplan and potential projects include two new junior football fields, the extension of the existing amenity buildings and walking track as well as gender-friendly change rooms.
Newcastle Labor lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said there's plenty of potential to improve the popular public asset.
"Adamstown Park has been a part of the local community for more than 130 years and enjoyed by generations of people in Newcastle," she said.
"City of Newcastle sought extensive feedback from key user groups and the broader community to make sure the needs of all users were considered and understood."
At Tuesday night's council meeting, Greens Cr Charlotte McCabe threw her support behind the masterplan, but raised issues with the potential use of synthetic grass on Adamstown No.1.
Multiple community submissions requested converting one or more of the training pitches to synthetic turf.
"I just have really serious concerns about the micro-plastic issues with synthetic surf, the breaking down of the surface and crumbed plastic that's beneath that synthetic turf layer has serious potential to create micro-plastic pollution that will end up in our oceans and that's obviously a huge, huge issue at the moment that I think council should not be contributing to," she said.
It's the first synthetic ground the council would be constructing and managing, and other councillors made the point that synthetic turf would be looked at in the detailed design stage.
Labor Cr Deahnna Richardson said councillors had been contacted regularly by local sporting groups that said their grounds weren't draining properly, forcing games to be washed out.
"It's our first synthetic field and I think it is in line with what the community expects, they want to be able to train and play," she said.
"It also means we could potentially expand to wheelchair sports in those areas because wheelchair sports require non-grass surfaces in order to play - that's something that is within the realm of possibility with synthetic turf that's not available with a natural grass surface."
Future improvements to passive and active recreation include increasing the number of trees and landscaping, a multipurpose active court, flood light renewal on fields and an all-weather training pitch next to Adamstown No.1, which hinges on external funding.
The council's Community and Culture Advisory Committee chair Labor Cr Carol Duncan welcomed the masterplan and thanked the community for their feedback.
"The masterplan gives us a framework for the future and the inclusion of new infrastructure will ensure even more people can enjoy the precinct," she said.
"The next stage of work in delivering the masterplan will begin early next year with the construction of a new playground near the existing tennis courts close to Glebe Road."
Along with recreational and sporting facilities, the masterplan also includes a provision to relocate a World War One memorial, which currently sits on private property on Brunker Road, to a space near the corner of Glebe Road and Bryant Street.
Merewether-Hamilton-Adamstown RSL Sub-Branch president Phil Winney said it's an important monument that needs to be preserved.
"This memorial has been in Adamstown since 1921, but its current location has become problematic since the RSL club closed down in 2014," he said.
"We stopped holding a march on Anzac Day because of the disruption to traffic on Brunker Road and we could only accommodate a small crowd for the service.
"With help from City of Newcastle, as well as state and government grants, we hope to move the memorial to Adamstown Park, allowing us to revive the full Anzac Day service and the march, without safety or traffic concerns."
The public can view the Adamstown Park Masterplan on the council's website.
