JL Murphy community pitch

The community pitch at JL Murphy Reserve was last upgraded more than 10 years ago and has reached the end of its life. We're upgrading and resurfacing the pitch to provide a suitable and safe environment for participants. The new surface will:

• provide a safe and consistent playing surface all year round
• support the increasing sport and recreation participation levels in our community
• allow for increased use. The synthetic surface can withstand increased use with less degradation when compared to the current pitch
• aim to improve pitch integration including surrounding pedestrian access, layout of fences and gates surrounding the pitch, and the storage of portable soccer goals.

The new synthetic pitch will be available for use by the whole community, including local residents, sports clubs and schools.

It is expected the current users will continue to have access. Additional bookings will be considered based on availability once the upgrade is completed.

As a community pitch the ground will continue to provide opportunities for multiple sports and users.

JL Murphy Reserve will remain open during the upgrade; however, disruptions may occur around the perimeter of the sportsgrounds. The field itself will be completely closed when the playing surface is upgraded.

All works on the field are expected to conclude prior to the start of winter in 2025.

JL Murphy Reserve is a vibrant sport and recreation space at the heart of community activities in Port Melbourne. By installing new lighting and upgrading the field, we will be able to have all grounds accessible for night training and games (which is already the case). This will enable us to improve scheduling and support increased use of the park.

A lighting plan has been created to efficiently illuminate the sportsground for night-time usage and to have minimal impact on adjacent residents.

The pole locations allow for lighting will be focused directly on the sports ground area. This will eliminate light spill to surrounding areas and properties. Lighting control and centralised programming will also allow light distribution and timings to be precisely controlled.