Parra News May 28 2024

LOCAL NEWS
Council gets ball rolling
City of Parramatta exploring possibility of major new sport and recreation centre
ELLIE BUSBY
City of Parramatta Councillors have
voted to get the ball rolling on developing
a new large, multipurpose
indoor sport and recreation centre.
Parramatta is working towards its dream of
becoming the home of festivals, sports and
entertainment by 2050, with the local Council
now investigating the possibility of building a
large, multipurpose indoor sport and recreation
centre within the Local Government
Area (LGA).
Council said the facility would cater for a
multitude of indoor sports and recreational
activities, with the potential to include
community meeting or conference spaces.
The Council report also said it could house
aquatic facilities like an indoor pool, as well as
host community programs such as the PCYC
Parramatta ‘Fit for life’ program, following
the closure of its Parramatta branch earlier
this year.
With so many surrounding Council areas
already having access to large indoor sporting
facilities or in the process of developing one,
Councillor Sameer Pandey said it’s important
Parramatta has one of its own too.
“Indoor facilities; we know the advantage of
them, we know that we do not have enough, in
fact we don’t have any of this scale in the city
of Parramatta,” he said.
A new indoor sport and recreation centre could be built in Parramatta.
“One of the visions that we have in the 2050
document [‘Parramatta 2050’] is to be the
home of festivals, sports and entertainment.
“I think it’s really important that we invest
in indoor sporting facilities, it’s also one of the
things that will climate-proof our sports and
festivals.”
However, if an indoor sport facility were to
be built in Parramatta, Council said it would
be reliant on securing significant funding
from State or Federal Government grant
programs. Finding a suitable site has also
been identified as an issue, with the Council
report stating the only landholdings capable
of accommodating a large-scale facility are
existing sports grounds.
But Pandey said concerns of funding and
finding the right space shouldn’t stop the
Council from investigating the possibility of a
large indoor sport facility.
“We don’t need hectares of land, we have
Billbergia’s sporting centre which is just right
here… we’ll find this land, if we have the will
we’ll find it and if we have the appetite to be
the global city that we want to be we should
also invest in indoor facilities,” he added.
“There’ll be a number of mechanisms
through which we can construct something
like this, but it should be something we should
be considering seriously.
“I think we have to see the cost of not doing
something, instead of the cost of doing something
like this. So, in the long-term I think it’s
worthwhile.”
Supported unanimously by the Chamber,
City of Parramatta will now prepare a report
detailing the existing provisions for indoor
sporting centres, as well as possible funding
sources, operating costs and construction
costs for the facility.
Do you think Parramatta needs a large,
multipurpose indoor sport and recreation
centre? Email news@parranews.com.au.
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