REVEALED: The Perth suburb set for new basketball courts
At Tuesday's council meeting, the council voted to consider the installation of new outdoor basketball facilities as part of its upcoming annual budget process.
Council also voted to ensure that the City gives due regard to the impact of noise from the outdoor basketball facility on nearby residents, by noting that any new outdoor basketball facility would still need to comply with the requirements of the Environment Protection (Noise) Regulations act, which any outdoor basketball facilities in WA must comply with.
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They noted that clear State Government guidelines around the provision of outdoor basketball facilities were unlikely to proceed, which had caused years of uncertainty around outdoor basketball facilities.
The city has faced challenges over installing basketball courts since 2021 from noise complaints and uncertainty surrounding the status of State-level policies. The basketball ring at Braden Park in Marmion before it was removed in early 2022. Credit: Tyler Brown
The most notable case of community debate over basketball facilities is Braden Park in Marmion.
In 2019, the council received a petition with 165 signatures requesting a basketball pad as part of the Braden Park playground renewal, with construction scheduled for 2021.
Seventy-nine per cent of surveyed residents supported the installation. However, the city later received a second petition with 68 signatures calling for the removal of the basketball pad and four-square court.
Despite 77.2 per cent of surveyed residents living within 200 metres opposing its removal, the basketball pad was removed in early 2022 just five months after it was installed.
Calls to have the basketball pad reinstalled just weeks later prompted the city to review its policies, which ultimately decided that any action should be delayed until expected guidelines from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation were released.
However, the draft guidelines on noise from outdoor community basketball facilities were withdrawn by DWER in February 2023, leaving local governments to continue managing existing facilities.
Currently, the city has basketball facilities at 47 of its public open spaces, ranging from full courts to three-on-three pads and one-on-one pads.
'Outdoor recreational basketball facilities provide health and wellbeing benefits to the community and have proved to be very popular with people of all ages and abilities,' a report said.
'It, however, unfortunately can also be polarising within a community, and as such the provision of these facilities should be considered carefully on a case-by-case basis.'
Despite noise concerns plaguing certain locations, the city does not believe it to be a widespread issue.
There are 17 pads less than 50 metres from homes. The closest is at Chadstone Park in Craigie, where a one-on-one pad sits just 21 metres from the nearest residence. Falkland Park in Kinross, at 147 metres, is the furthest.
'Undesirable noise associated with basketball play does not appear to be an issue at most of these locations as the city has, over the years, received complaints from a small number of nearby residents at only a couple of locations,' city officers said.
'Where a complaint has been received, the city has investigated the matters raised and taken the most appropriate action depending on the specific circumstances.'
Measures taken to address concerns include noise monitoring, backboard modifications, time restrictions, education, and CCTV surveillance.
It remains unclear if the basketball pad at Braden Park in Marmion will be reinstated.
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