THE Broadmeadow sporting precinct should be upgraded as the heart of a Hunter Region Commonwealth Games bid, says Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes.
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Hot on the heels of a state government grant of $10 million to redevelop Newcastle International Hockey Centre, Cr Nelmes said a Broadmeadow precinct master plan being developed by the state should be done with the council’s support for a Commonwealth Games in mind.
It also comes as local company McDonald Jones Homes signs a five-year deal for the naming rights to Hunter Stadium.
“We have to shoot for the stars,” Cr Nelmes said.
The push for the Commonwealth Games surfaced in 2012, with the council voting the following year to support “in principle” a Newcastle bid for the 2030 Games.
Liberal Brad Luke was one of two councillors to vote against the Games proposal in 2013, and he reinforced his opposition on Thursday, saying there were far more important things the council and state could do than to “replicate ANZ Stadium at Broadmeadow, which is what you would have to do to even think about a Commonwealth Games bid”.
But Cr Luke agreed on the need to improve facilities across the board at Broadmeadow – an idea that both sides of state politics have supported for some years without concrete outcomes.
NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres said on Thursday the government was working on “major plans” for the precinct, which would be released once they had gone to state cabinet.
“The precinct improvements are expected to have major benefits for people accessing Hunter Stadium, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre and Showground and District Park along with a variety of commercial and community sporting and entertainment facilities on government-owned land in Newcastle,” Mr Ayres said.
The Herald reported in January this year that the Newcastle Knights were pushing plans for a “training centre of excellence” at Broadmeadow as part of a master plan for the precinct that various state agencies were developing in consultation with the various sporting and entertainment groups based in the precinct.
A number of sporting clubs said yesterday that little if anything had been heard from the government since a meeting at the start of the year with the government’s Venues NSW agency.
As well as the stadium, the showground, the entertainment centre and District Park tennis, the Broadmeadow precinct is home to another dozen or so organisations including the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Newcastle City Farmers Markets, Newcastle Basketball Association, Newcastle PCYC and commercial operators including a fitness centre, a go-kart track and a mini-golf course.
While many of these organisations have long-term leases with the government, some are concerned about the possibility of being moved from Broadmeadow as a result of either the government master plan or a council-backed Commonwealth Games push.
Newcastle Harness Racing Club general manager Tony Drew said he had heard rumours the government wanted the trots moved somewhere else.
“If we were to be moved out, we would want to have new facilities built for us at a suitable place at no cost to the industry,” Mr Drew said.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said the government had “done absolutely nothing” about Broadmeadow in the first term of office, but they had met with him multiple times on the issue in the second term.
Mr Crakanthorp now urged decision-makers to go public with their plan.
“They are spending nearly $1 billion on stadium upgrades in Sydney yet they can’t even do a simple master plan for Newcastle, the second-largest city in the state,” Mr Crakanthorp said.
The Labor MP was supportive of the Commonwealth Games bid.
Long wait for grand plans
DESPITE grand plans for the Broadmeadow sporting precinct, one of its major attractions has gone into voluntary administration.
Newcastle and District Tennis Association president Ellen Gordon said on Thursday that Newcastle District Tennis Club – the registered club in front of the association’s 24 tennis courts at Broadmeadow, had shut about a month ago.
Mrs Gordon said the club was a separate organisation from the association, and while the club was shut, the tennis courts were still in business and going well.
Mrs Gordon said the club was a victim of changing demographics, with fewer and fewer people going there for a drink.
In the wake of the government’s $10-million grant to Newcastle International Hockey Centre, Mrs Gordon said the tennis association had its own upgrade plan.
Like other Broadmeadow sporting administrators, Mrs Gordon said the tennis association was waiting to hear the government’s plans for the area. Labor had pledged $600,000 during the federal election campaign to upgrade District Park, but the money was contingent on Labor winning the election.
In the wake of the government’s $10-million grant to Newcastle International Hockey Centre, Mrs Gordon said the tennis association had its own upgrade plan. She said the government wanted the land, including the club building, fronting Lambton Road, which would mean building a new club house and moving some of the courts to the rear of the site.
The hockey money came from the government’s Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund, which has another $17 million or so to distribute. Newcastle Basketball’s request for a $5 million upgrade is part of the HIIF short-list and is widely tipped to receive government funding.
Newcastle City Touch Association president Joey Campbell was one of several administrators questioning a lack of information from the government, saying he wanted to be “kept in the light and out of the tunnel” on progress.
“We’ve seen the grand plans, and now they need to get it done,” Mr Campbell said.
Newcastle Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Association president Brett Gleeson said the showground facilities were run-down and needed a major overhaul.
Mr Gleeson said the upgrade “couldn’t happen soon enough”, with many of the show’s facilities wiped out during the Pasha Bulker storm.
“It certainly needs to be a priority,” he said.
“And from my point of view, it couldn’t happen soon enough. There are a number of issues at that site that need to be resolved through an integrated and coordinated approach.”
