It’s one idea under consideration for 1260 acres at the effluent irrigation farm on Gorman Road. The holding will soon become surplus with completion of the upgraded wastewater treatment plant. The council will no longer have to irrigate treated effluent on the land, instead discharging the higher quality material into the river.

It’s opened up several possibilities for the large block, which will be the subject of a planning proposal to be submitted to the State planning department. Councillors last Tuesday signed off on the rezoning application. It includes agriculture, space for cemetery expansion, eco-tourism and a regional sporting facility, a hi-tech agriculture park, residential development and a bio-banking site to be retained.

While there are bureaucratic hoops to jump yet, council general manager Warwick Bennett says there are some exciting opportunities. He’d like sport to be more consolidated in Goulburn.

“Currently they cover about 10 different sites and I’d like to reduce the cost of maintaining those to the ratepayer,” he said.

“It would ensure they’re not so thinly spread.”

A report to councillors stated that part of the farm could accommodate hockey, soccer, netball, athletics, orienteering and cross country.

Mr Bennett told The Post he wasn’t convinced the farmland was the best location for the hockey fields, but it should be investigated. Goulburn Workers Club does not want to continue providing the fields at the Workers Arena and a working party is exploring options.

But Mr Bennett said there were other options. Looming changes to the NSW Crown Lands Act will give councils greater control. He believed the Recreation Area on Braidwood Road could also accommodate a regional sports hub, almost linking into the Carr Confoy fields at Eastgrove.

“We want to secure ownership of Crown land that is strategically important to us. We own more than is used,” Mr Bennett said.

“Regarding Carr Confoy, it is one of the most under-utilised  sites, so we need to have an adult conversation with all sports and say if you want high quality facilities we need to look at resourcing them together into a smaller number.”

He stressed this was not about shrinking their presence but improving it.

The hockey working party, which includes Crs Andrew Banfield and Peter Walker, will meet for the first time next Monday to discuss possible locations. Carr Confoy is one of the options.

Meantime, the council has been discussing the farm’s development for two years. Although originally slated for sale or lease through expressions of interest, Cr Bob Kirk wasn’t overwhelmed with the response and called for a report into development options. A total $50,000 was allocated to explore constraints and opportunities, including heritage, flora and fauna, land contamination and traffic and transport.

Planners floated a solar farm, agriculture and a nature conservation area, among other uses listed above.

Mr Bennett said an area near the maturation ponds off Gorman Road could be used for eco-tourism, embracing an education centre which schools, universities and environmental groups could utilise.

“The area is already known for the blue billed duck, which is an endangered species, so there’s an opportunity to create an environmental education centre, teaching about wildlife,” he said.

The University of Canberra had expressed interest in collaborating on planning for the eco-tourism precinct, the report stated.

However planners said it was prudent to consider other uses too, such as the regional recreational and sporting facility.

“The use of the site must support the native vegetation and bird habitat created by the wastewater ponds,” they reported.

The agriculture park (off Gorman Road) and an area proposed for residential development (off Taralga Road) are judged to give the council “the highest financial return” through sale.

But its development would be guided by planning controls and caveats to achieve “desired outcomes,” including environmental sustainability, protecting river ecology and minimising land use conflict.

In 2015, three companies expressed interest in buying the farm. At that time, staff recommended a $4 million sale to a joint venture comprising Denrith Pty Ltd and Kadwell and Co, both Goulburn companies, for agricultural use. It did not go ahead as councillors called for more comprehensive investigations.

This has revealed that alternative access would be required, given the rail level crossing’s location on Gorman Road and risk occasioned by more traffic.

“One option being considered is the construction of a bridge over the Wollondilly River at the end of Wollondilly Avenue,” the report stated. 

Gorman Road’s extension and improvements to the Murrays Flat Road intersection with the Hume Highway would also be necessary.

The council estimates an $80,000 cost to prepare the planning proposal and assessment reports.

It will be submitted to the NSW Department of Environment and Planning for a gateway determination. If accepted, the council will undertake higher level planning to support the proposal.

Growth, strategy and culture director Louise Wakefield said she would hold a workshop with councillors before it was lodged to the Department.