FAQs

You can estimate your fees using the Policy and the Summary of Fees document. The Policy outlines how fees are calculated, and the Summary of Fees shows the fee amount. There are concessions built into the Policy which could see your group’s fees reduced. Our staff can help explain how to calculate your fees and how concessions can be applied.

All fee decreases will be applied from 1 April 2024, except for synthetic soccer pitch fees which have been implemented immediately after endorsement of the Policy (for usage from 13 December 2023 onwards).

Fee increase will be implemented over a 3 year period commencing 1 April 2025. For user groups that are expected to see a fee increase, their fees will not start increasing until 1 April 2025. Usage fees until that time will be charged at no more than the fees charged for the user group’s previous season.

Approximately 35% of user groups will experience a decrease in their fees. 35% will see a nominal increase, with the remaining 30% expected to have a moderate increase (above $1,500). We encourage you to contact our staff to understand what your fees may look like based on the new Policy.

Clubs that do not have teams will be charged a ‘whole of club’ fee, which is 35% of the maintenance cost for each facility. This applies to groups such as archery and aeromodellers. Concessions may also apply to this fee.

Council wishes to actively encourage and support the participation of children in sport. Therefore, no fees are charged for development programs. This is only applied to programs being run by not-for-profit groups.

The team fee model is fairer and ensures that user groups pay only for what they use. It also helps Council allocate sports fields more effectively and efficiently, allowing Council to accommodate more use of sports fields.

Netball clubs and associations will be charged an hourly fee for use of netball courts. The hourly fees are based on recouping 35% of maintenance costs for courts at the Manningham Templestowe Leisure Centre, and 15% for satellite courts such as Wonga Park Reserve and Warrandyte Reserve (a lower cost recovery is applied due to lower levels of use by sporting clubs).

Concessions will be applied to the percentage of a club’s participants who meet the eligibility criteria. For example, if 30% of a club’s participants are juniors, the concession will apply to 30% of a club’s fee.

The draft Policy considered no change to fees for synthetic soccer pitches. That is, a per hour fee would remain at $47.60 as per Council’s current 2023/24 Annual Budget. This represented approximately an 85% cost recovery. Feedback received through the community consultation identified that for seasonal users of synthetic pitches, the total cost across a season was not sustainable. Officers reassessed the fee and a new fee has been added to the Policy.

Use of synthetic soccer pitches will now be charged as an hourly fee based on a 35% cost recovery, which is consistent with turf sports fields. The Policy therefore has an hourly fee of $18.97 for seasonal use and casual use by Manningham based community groups and schools. Additional fees apply for commercial and community groups outside of Manningham.

The Policy dictates that clubs must specify if their team primarily uses turf or synthetic fields. If the team primarily uses synthetic fields, they will not be charged a team fee. If they primarily use turf, they will be charged a team fee and an hourly fee for use of synthetic pitches.

For most facilities, Council is the utility account holder. This means that every time a utility invoice is received, Council processes these and then sends a Council invoice to the user group. The new process will see this figure built up front into a group’s fees and charges. This means that groups will not receive multiple invoices throughout the seasonal allocation period.

No, any utility costs built into the fees and charges are for sports field use only. Any utility invoices related to pavilion use will be invoiced as per the current process.

General community members are not charged for use of our outdoor sports facilities. Community members are welcome to use the sports fields to play with friends, go for a walk or event sit down and enjoy the sun. Fees and charges are only applied when a sports field is booked by a group or individual for the purpose of an organised event (e.g. a football match).