Cole Reserve is home to the Coburg Districts Football Club, and West Coburg St Andrews Cricket Club.

In 2023 the Coburg Districts Football Club received $1.25 million from the Victorian Government towards Ground Drainage and sports field lighting upgrades.

Earlier in 2024 we also ran a community engagement for the introduction of the lighting upgrade works. This is currently in progress.

Officers commissioned an audit on the ground. The assessment of the oval condition was determined through several visual based agronomic criteria including Grass Cover, Vigour, Surface Evenness, Stability, Soil type, presence of weeds and Bare Areas. Rootzone material was extracted from the removed soil columns to be tested for nutrition and drainage rate. This report established its current condition and provided the scope to establish best practice options for rectification works and environmental improvements.

The project Scope

  • Strip the grass from the surface to expose the topsoil (removing no more than 50mm from the surface)
  • Shape the oval to best surface shape. The surface needs to be a single slope or dome smooth free on any undulations.
  • Import a sand profile to a depth of 75-100mm. This will improve the drainage of the oval as well as potential usage.
  • Install a network of lateral subsurface drains through the site
  • Install a new automated irrigation that meets uniformity requirements. This may include pump and tank.
  • Install synthetic pads at player entry points and in front of player shelters.
  • Install new player shelters to meet AFL Guidelines.
  • Install new central cricket wicket table including all clay and turf.
  • Install New Fencing.
  • Sod with washed Santa Ana couch maxi rolls.

We are upgrading the Irrigation System at Cole Reserve. The new system will utilise the latest IQ4 cloud based technology to help us understand our flow capacities and react to any faults within the systems. If we were to have a mainline break the system will detect the issue and shut it down automatically alleviating excess water loss.

All the valves will be housed in a purpos- designed seating enclosure. This will reduce our scheduled maintenance as all serviceable valves will located in one place.

With this technology and a specifically designed system and turf surface we will reduce our watering commitments to the ovals by an expected 30%.

Our decision making framework

This diagram shows the process we follow when making decisions about our sportsground surfaces. Click on the spots to learn more about each step.

circular flowchart that shows the headings for each step of the decision making process