Sporting Declaration: As the state government invests a fortune in Western Sydney, what about Newcastle?

That was Sporting Declaration's reaction during the week after noticing a report detailing the staggering amount of money the state government has committed to spend on sporting infrastructure in Western Sydney.

Let's start with the $106.7 million for a proposed indoor multi-sports arena in Claremont Meadows.

Then toss in $40.6 million to upgrade the Mount Druitt Swimming Centre, plus another $77.2 million for the Blacktown Aquatic Centre.

Richmond Swimming Centre will be redeveloped at a cost of $30.3 million, as well as a lazy $6.7 million to give the Hawkesbury's Oasis Aquatic and Leisure Centre a makeover.

But wait, there's more ... $24.4 million for four cycle lanes and walkways through the Blue Mountains.

Not forgetting, of course, the $300 million already earmarked for a 30,000-seat football stadium for the two-time reigning NRL premiers, who last season attracted a club-record average home crowd of just 18,733.

There were various other multi-million dollar community projects in the pipeline as well, all reportedly bankrolled by WestInvest, the $5 billion treasure chest created after the government sold off its share in the WestConnex motorway.

"We are making a huge array of projects in the Blue Mountains and Penrith a reality, helping to deliver the playgrounds, cultural centres, sporting fields and facilities the people of Western Sydney deserve," Premier Dominic Perrotet gushed.

Good luck to the people of Penrith and surrounding suburbs. I don't begrudge them one cent. They'll be paying for all this, I would imagine, with their E-Tag tolls for the rest of their lives.

But what I would say to the state government - who in all likelihood will be known as the opposition in the not-too-distant future - is what about Newcastle?

Where the bloody hell is some sort of return on our taxes?

I'm no political expert, but after some extensive research - ie Google - I did stumble on this illuminating snippet on The Guardian website: "After a 2021 seat redistribution, Penrith is the third-most marginal seat in the state, held by the Liberals with just 0.6 per cent."

Say no more.

Meanwhile, up here in God's country, we pay the price for our staunch Labor leanings.

And nowhere is that more obvious than in our sporting facilities, which for a city of this size are nothing short of a disgrace.

Other than a football stadium, which, to be brutally honest is starting to look old and tired compared to the state-of-the-art venues at Parramatta, Moore Park and Townsville, what do we have?

They can't play marquee-level cricket here because, even after $8 million in renovations, No.1 Sportsground still does not meet the bare-minimum standards.

It has now been eight years since we last hosted a Sheffield Shield match. Cricket NSW is eager to bring Big Bash League fixtures to Newcastle, but instead we have been leapfrogged in the pecking order by smaller regional centres such as Albury, Coffs Harbour, Ballarat and Moe.

Newcastle Basketball Association, which has been waiting for years for the green light to start building a new complex, continues to operate out of a dilapidated premises at Broadmeadow with a roof that has been known to leak.

Meanwhile, the National Basketball League is absolutely booming, as evidenced by Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats regularly attracting crowds of more than 10,000, but Newcastle hasn't hosted a single NBL match since the demise of the Hunter Pirates in 2006.

Our main tennis centre has been an eyesore for at least a decade.

There is no such thing as a Newcastle Aquatic Centre, just garden-variety public swimming pools.

The Newcastle Jets reckon they're struggling to find enough training fields to accommodate the hundreds of kids in their junior academy.

And even our hockey centre, despite a recent $12 million upgrade, was recently ruled to be "non-compliant" for international matches.

All of which reminds me of a dinner I was invited to attend in 2018, along with key powerbrokers from Venues NSW, the body responsible for managing the state's myriad stadiums.

Much of the discussion revolved around the proposed "Hunter Park" sporting and entertainment precinct at Broadmeadow, a blueprint for which had been announced by the then NSW sports minister Stuart Ayres 12 months earlier.

The plan for District Park sounded amazing. I remember thinking: "This is too good to be true".

And, five years down the track, guess what? It remains a figment of the government's imagination.

Other than the Knights' Centre of Excellence, there has not been a single, solitary development.

The Centre of Excellence cost in the vicinity of $20 million, of which the Wests Group/Knights paid 50 per cent. Compare that to the $84.5 million spent on the new base Wests Tigers are using at Concord.

The bottom line is we've been waiting six years for the state government to show any signs of honouring its "Hunter Park" promise.

Maybe one day it'll happen, but Novocastrians aren't silly enough to believe that until they see it with their own eyes.

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