Draft Narooma leisure precinct management plan on exhibition

Council is seeking community feedback on a draft Plan of Management for the Narooma Sport and Leisure Precinct, which incorporates Bill Smyth Oval, NATA Oval, the swimming and leisure centres and the foreshore up to Ken Rose Park.

The draft plan outlines how these areas can be used, developed and managed, how leases and licences or other interests are granted, and guides the scale and intensity of development. It features a range of actions centred on growing tourism, passive recreation, events and formal sporting use, and protecting and enhancing natural and cultural features.

The draft plan proposes that two land parcels within the precinct be re-categorised to ‘natural area’. The first is the treed hill on the southern side of Bill Smyth Oval, already a designated Aboriginal Heritage Conservation Area, while the second is a small area below the high tide line of Wagonga Inlet on the northern side of the foreshore.

This categorisation supports maintenance of these areas in their natural state while still allowing for community use that minimises disturbance. The rest of the precinct will maintain the dual categorisation of ‘park’ and ‘general community use’, providing a broad flexibility in how this public land can be used.

Council is required to prepare Plans of Management for its community land under the Local Government Act 1993. Its development involved extensive stakeholder and community engagement, including with user groups and sporting clubs, local business and tourism operators, the Wagonga Local Aboriginal Land Council, the general public, various state government organisations and Council staff.

The draft Plan of Management for the Narooma Sport and Leisure Precinct will be on public exhibition from Wednesday 12 August until Wednesday 9 September and submissions will be accepted until Wednesday 23 September, 2020.

An independently-chaired public hearing will be held at 5.30pm on Wednesday 26 August at Club Narooma to seek community comment on the re-categorisation of the two land parcels, in accordance with state legislation.

The opportunity to participate online via Zoom will also be available - visit the event page for details.

View the draft plan here.