ESSENDON
Essendon Royals met with Moonee Valley City Council on Thursday 20 August to discuss ground allocations for the 2027 winter season. We want to be straight with our members and our community about where this stands.
There is currently no path forward that keeps Essendon Royals at Ormond Park. No proposal to retain the ground has been put to us and no funding has been identified. The notice to vacate served on 5 August still requires the club out of the building by 30 September. We have asked Council for an extension to the end of the year so that sixty-three years of club history can be properly removed from the site.
Council has presented the club with an alternative allocation for winter 2027. It offers greater training hours, but it would spread the club across two additional reserves, and it contains no replacement for Ormond Park on Sundays.
Thirteen of our teams play their home games at Ormond Park, more than ninety matches across a season, and Cross Keys Reserve cannot carry them on top of what it already does. We have asked Council where those games are to be played in 2027.
Our KickStarters program was also a point of discussion. The club continues to work with Council on a process that allows KickStarters to continue in Term 4, and we will update those families as soon as we are able to.
Our position has not changed. Put the repair out to tender so the real cost is tested in the open market. Hold off on demolition until that tender has been done and considered by Council in public. And whatever happens to the pavilion, keep the Ormond Park pitch for soccer.
Our petition closes on Sunday 23 August and will be tabled at Council on Tuesday 25 August.