Sign up! Debra Pascoe, Kay and Greg Lumby in front of the big, new Barkly Park Estate sign with prime residential Lots up for sale.
Rutherglen’s Barkly Park Estate is being built, which will include land for netball being donated to the Barkly Park Reserve and to be utilised by the Rutherglen Football Netball Club.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The four-stage construction is the project of well-known local identities, farmers Greg and Kaylene Lumby.
The first stage, at the Scott Street entrance either side of the to-be-named Hayseed Drive, involves two, not for sale lots and the Reserve area being donated.
The second stage will have 13 residential lots either side of Hayseed Drive and court. The third and fourth stages, to comprise eight and seven lots, are planned for down the track.
The 13 prime residential lots close to the centre of town in stage two are now on sale.
When the property went on the market in 2019 it took some time for the Lumbys to weigh up and research all options, which included costing of a subdivision.
“Finally, we settled on the property on August 6, 2021 with planning application ready to go,” Mr Lumby told The Free Press.
“After many meetings and discussions between our consultant engineer and Indigo Shire Council planning, the permit application was approved by council at its July 2022 meeting.”
Due to town flooding, however, council decided it had to improve many drainage areas, “and rightly so” according to Mr Lumby.
“As a result, they wished to turn Drummond Street north, on our western boundary, into a large open drain, requiring us to alter our plans. This then took a length of time to get formal approval once again. We’re happy to have the drainage solved.”
It has been a long and slow process, but civil works commenced late 2023, and moving along now at a much quicker pace.
All the infrastructure works for the 13 lots are scheduled to be completed by the end of May 2024, weather permitting.
The approximate 3,700sqm of land being donated to the Barkly Park Reserve will provide area for a new netball court, an area south of the new netball court behind the clubrooms for parking and container storage and approximately 50 extra car spaces. The size of the land to be donated is far in excess of the 5% required by council.
It’s the only way the club could acquire the land for netball according to the Lumbys.
Mr Lumby said the matter of more netball space has been raised by netballers for years and there was nowhere to place a new netball court in Barkly Park’s existing reserve. “Having netball courts on the far side of the oval is not practical being away from the facilities and dangerous for kids,” he said.
“We’ve been really stuck for somewhere to put a new netball court,” he said. “If land somehow came up we could look at it and try and help the netballers.
“We love the Rutherglen Football Netball Club. It’s a big part of us and the community, and we wanted to help the club with this opportunity of acquiring the land when it came on the market.
“We just hope the wider community get behind what we are trying to achieve.”
The subdivision is excellent for the further development of Rutherglen which will result in employment for many local tradies and businesses.
These lots are of good sizes, close to town, so close for sport and recreation, and with all the town’s facilities also within walking distance.
The prices of the residential allotments are priced on current market value and are to be sold by Corowa Rutherglen Real Estate (02 6033 2488).
Greg and Kay Lumby, with Graham Steed at the Rutherglen Football Netball Club.
Amazing generosity of gift
Greg and Kay Lumby, with Graham Steed at the Rutherglen Football Netball Club.
The time when Greg Lumby approached the Barkly Park Committee of Management Chairman in 2021 for a chat about a subdivision has been recalled by the chairman of the day.
“Greg raised the idea as an agenda item in a meeting after getting my OK to do so,”chairman Graham Steed told The Free Press.
“He explained his plan to purchase land adjoining the Barkly Park facilities. We already knew this land was for sale as we had approached the Victorian Government about buying some of it so we could expand BP. Sadly, the Government were not able or allowed to help with this purchase so we had confined that idea to the ‘too hard’ basket.
“Greg showed us plans to develop a housing estate and to gift some land to BP to be used for a second netball court and extra parking spaces - which was what we badly wanted the extra land for.”
“Greg asked for the formal support of the BPCM.”
Mr Steed’s reaction was both shock and amazement. “Shock that Greg would initiate such a big project when I knew that he was 100 per cent committed to his farming business and his numerous community activities. Amazement at his ability to think outside the square - and outside his comfort zone - when most people, me included, would quickly dismiss the idea as being way too hard and ‘not for me’; “ Mr Steed said.
“Also amazement at his generosity concerning the land donation to BP. This was something we (BPCM) would never have asked of him as he had no need to do it. There was nothing in the donation for the Lumbys, in fact they were foregoing more house blocks to do it”.
In fact the chairman of some 20 years thought Greg was “very brave and possibly a bit mad!”
Of course the committee recognised a great deal when members saw it. “Getting the scarce land for free was something we could never have dreamt of,” Mr Steed said.
“The committee also wanted Greg to succeed in his big project because we had all worked closely with him for many years in the Barkly Park community. We had enormous respect for his loyalty, friendship, work ethic and his ability to take on big jobs when he had many reasons not to.
“The potential to add a new netball court, close to the current court, was a huge win as there was no other free space near the old court. It will allow netball games to be played side-by side with obvious advantages for players and spectators.”
Car parking in a purpose-designed area would also make BP safer, particularly for the many children there on match and training days according to Mr Steed.
He described the decision by the Lumbys to donate the netball-dedicated land as “an incredibly generous gift” that should be appreciated by “all users of Barkly Park, now and into the future”.
“I think Greg and Kaylene are a high-achieving family who operate in a quiet unassuming way for the benefit of the community including many sports clubs and other groups,” Mr Steed said.
“They never seek praise or thanks and they take on tasks that most normal people would run from. They relate to people exceptionally well.
“Late last year the Rutherglen Cats Football Netball Club held their AGM and Greg was asked by retiring president Pat Beattie if he would return to the club, which saw Greg take over the chairmanship after having retired just a couple of years prior. This is vintage Greg.”
