Improvements seen as long overdue
Alamein Football Club and Ashburton United Soccer Club were successful in securing $550,000 in funding commitment from the Australian Government for covered spectator seating and improvement works at Dorothy Laver Reserve West in Ashburton.
We invited you to share your thoughts on the proposed works to help inform Council’s formal funding application.
Community consultation
In December 2025 and January 2026, we asked for community feedback on the proposed improvements.
Thank you to everyone who had their say.
Who we heard from
We heard from a diverse range of participants:
- 43% were men, 55% were women and 2% preferred not to answer
- the most represented age groups were 50-59 years (37%) and 35-49 years (30%)
- 18% of participants were young people aged up to 24 years
- 30% lived locally in Boroondara, 19 % lived in suburbs outside Boroondara and 51% preferred not to answer.
When asked how they use the Reserve, we heard from people who:
- watch soccer (37%) and play soccer here (9%)
- are members of a club that plays soccer at the Reserve (22%)
- walk their dog here or use walking trails nearby (20%)
- exercise or play informally with friends (4%)
- live nearby (10%).
What we heard
We received strong support from a total of 85 submissions.
For proposed seating and shelter near the sports pavilion:
- 93% supported the proposed improvements
- 3.5% did not support the proposed improvements
- 3.5% had a neutral or mixed response.
For other proposed improvements near the sports pavilion:
- 93% supported the proposed improvements
- 6% did not support the proposed improvements
- 1% had a neutral or mixed response.
A snapshot of what you told us
What you liked about the proposed tiered seating and shelter improvements
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Supporting families, elderly spectators and people with disabilities
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A durable, hard roof to protect from rain, wind and sun
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Tiered seating integrated into the natural slope
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Improved accessibility and pathways
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Improved facilities to support women’s and community sport
What you liked about the proposed permanent player boxes, fencing and pathways
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Improved safety and accessibility
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Improved ease of use for players, coaches, volunteers and spectators
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Hard surfaces or paved areas to reduce mud in winter
A limited number of comments raised concerns about:
- loss of green space, environmental impacts and aesthetics
- visual amenity, loss of natural character and reduced community access
This feedback emphasises the need to balance sporting use with broader parkland values. To help address these concerns:
- permanent fencing that matches existing chain mesh park fencing will be installed in front of seating where the current temporary fencing is installed
- hard surfaces will be limited where possible and community access to all areas will be retained
- the tiered seating area will be limited to the area in front of the pavilion
- materials such as brushed concrete and timber will be considered as part of the design.
With overall support from this community consultation, we’ll now submit (by 1 March 2026) a formal funding application as these improvement works are being funded exclusively by the Australian Government.
Our application will cover improvements up to the Government’s funding commitment of $550,0000.
The works that will progress are limited to this grant funding and subject to final building costs.
Within this total funding and responding to community feedback, we’ll prioritise works in the following order:
- Tiered spectator seating
- Hard shelter over new seating area
- Other improvements proposed on this page.
Proposed spectator seating and other improvements
Depending on consultation feedback and building costs, these works include:
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Covered seating
Building tiered spectator seating into the natural slope outside the pavilion with weather protection provided by either shade sails or a hard cover, depending on costs.
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New path
Creating a path from the carpark to the proposed seating for easy access.
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Permanent fencing
Formalising temporary fencing to match existing park fencing nearest to the pavilion.
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New permanent coaches' boxes
Installing 2 permanent coaches’ boxes on the northern pitch. Concrete is the proposed ground surface inside each coach’s box.
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Relocation of temporary boxes
Moving the 2 temporary coaches’ boxes to the southern pitch. Concrete is the proposed ground surface to house the temporary coaches' boxes.
Explore the proposed improvements
Select the hotspots in the map below.
