The Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct runs along the North and South Para rivers and is a community sporting and recreation focus for the Gawler and regional communities.

The Gawler Aquatic Centre and Gawler Sport & Community Centre are located within the precinct. It is also the home of the following community and sporting lease/license holder organisations:

• Gawler & District Netball Association
• Gawler & District Tennis Association
• Gawler Agricultural, Horticultural & Floricultural Society
• Gawler Amateur Swimming Club
• Gawler Bowling Club
• Gawler Central Sporting Club
• Gawler Greyhound Racing Club
• Gawler Petanque Club
• Gawler Primary School (Department for Education)
• Para Homing Pigeon Club

The Gawler Showgrounds and Princes Park is the venue for key annual regional community events including the Gawler Show, Relay for Life, Swap Meets, and Car Shows.

The development of the Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan will provide strategic planning and direction for a highly utilised and significant regional community precinct. It will also allow sporting and community organisations to develop their own facilities and identity in line with the strategic direction for the precinct.

To address key identified issues across Essex Park and the Gawler Showgrounds, the following five Design Principles have been nominated to infuse all aspects of the Master Plan:

• Draw In River Character
• Create Community Destinations
• Deliver Sustainable Outcomes Across the Site
• Improve Connections With Precinct and Beyond
• Future Proof Facilities

The physically large and varied project area of Essex Park and the Gawler Showgrounds has been segmented into the following five precinct planning areas, with specific plans developed for each of these five areas:

• Essex Park & Aquatic Centre
• Hallam Drive
• Netball Association
• Princes Park & Gawler Showgrounds
• Gawler Oval

An Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan has been prepared to guide the future growth of sport and recreation facilities in response to projected growth in population and sport participation levels in the Gawler region.

The draft Master Plan provides a long-term vision for the key community asset, with proposed staged delivery to occur over the next fifteen plus years. The proposed staging for the implementation of the draft Master Plan has been prioritised into the following delivery windows within the draft Plan:

• First Steps – projects identified for priority, nominally across the seven years following the finalisation of the Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan
• Moving Forwards – projects, in many cases incorporating significant infrastructure development projects identified for future development, nominally beyond eight years of the finalisation of the Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan

The draft Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan report provides details and images of the draft Plan, with individual images available in the Draft Master Plan Image Library.

The outcomes of the recent community consultation will be presented to Council in March 2021.

Draft Master Plan Image Library

Document Library

• Draft Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan Report
• Community & Corporate Services Committee Report - 10 November 2020 - Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan - Public Consultation
• Final Master Plan Report - Essex Park & Gawler Showgrounds Regional Sporting Precinct Master Plan

Key Dates

• March 2021 - Outcomes of Community Consultation presented to Council

Project Contact

If you have any questions or would like further information about this project please contact Bryce Norton – Team Leader Recreation and Community Strategy:

8522 9282