Backhaus Oval improvement works

The purchase of Backhaus Oval addresses an undersupply of public open space in Golden Square and will provide facilities to cater for the ongoing growth of junior and women’s sport in-line with the City’s 2020 Golden Square Recreation Reserve Master Plan and 2022 Golden Square Structure Plan.

Backhaus Oval is already an existing recreation facility and is ideally located, with links to the Bendigo Creek Trail walking and cycling corridor. It is an important parcel of land that was identified in adopted City strategies as an ideal site to provide more open space in Golden Square, particularly to support junior and women’s sport.

It’s a strong investment by the City that will help to address the current overuse of Golden Square Recreation Reserve in Wade Street by spreading the load for junior and senior football training and games and by supporting the forecast population growth in the local area.

Backhaus Oval was identified in the City of Greater Bendigo’s 2020 Golden Square Recreation Reserve Master Plan and 2022 Golden Square Structure Plan as an ideal site to address Golden Square’s undersupply of public open space for the following reasons:

• The reserve is a key strategic recreation link in Golden Square that will play an important role in the ongoing growth of junior and women’s participation in sport and public open space provision
• The reserve is already an existing recreation facility and is ideally located, with links to the Bendigo Creek Trail walking and cycling corridor

Golden Square Football Netball Club will be one of the main users of the reserve and the City will consider interest from other groups wishing to use the reserve in the future.

The City is currently undertaking a range of works to ensure the facility is safe for community use. The works are due for completion by July 2025. When the works are complete the reserve will be available for community use.

A site plan that outlines staged improvement works will be developed in the future and the community will be kept informed as this progresses.

Backhaus Oval is named after the Rev Dr Henry Backhaus.

Rev Dr Henry Backhaus was one of the most unusual of the pioneer Catholic priests of nineteenth century Australia. When he arrived at Bendigo in the Colony of Victoria early in 1852, he was forty years of age and a man with considerable experience of church and life. Educated in Rome, he spent nearly ten years as a missionary in India before arrival in Sydney in 1846. His pioneering experience then extended to the relatively new province of South Australia where he spent four years. 

Dr Backhaus arrived in Bendigo just after the discovery of gold and soon became well known on the goldfield. A noticeable feature of his life was that, in addition to his priestly activities, he was interested in civic matters on a scale that was most unusual for a clergyman of his time. This interest extended to financial matters and was illustrated by his large-scale investment in land.

As a consequence, while retaining a frugal personal lifestyle, he became one of the wealthiest men in the colony. When these activities were combined with an intense sense of personal independence, he became at times a problem for the clerical establishment. His ability to relate to people was such that on his death in 1882, there was an outpouring of emotion on a scale seldom seen. 

Dr Backhaus' name remains known in the region through the Backhaus Estate - a charitable trust that was established under his will. This has provided an income stream- currently over three quarters of a million dollars annually - for the church for over one hundred years. The Sacred Heart Cathedral, one of the biggest in Australia, was built entirely with funds from the Backhaus Estate.

This information was sourced from the Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst.