Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

I object to the proposal based on a variety of factors
1. Parking and Traffic Movement
I am a resident of Lambton and formerly of Broadmeadow. I was also a user of the existing basketball stadium in my youth and saw firsthand what living in a regional sporting precinct was like. These sporting and other facilities nearby are already plagued with congestion, rat running and illegal parking. I attend events at nearby McDonald Jones Stadium, train at Urth Fitness (gym next to the stadium) and am a parent of two young children who use the Newcastle International Hockey Centre on a twice weekly basis. The traffic during morning and afternoon peak already causes delays along Turton Rd. Accessing the hockey centre is a nightmare as you can only access it from the North so users are already using U-turns and side streets to manoeuvre their way in/out of the existing hockey car park. We avoid major events on weekends if we can because with all users at the ovals, the stadium and hockey the traffic is dangerous in residential streets with people trying to find a ‘sneaky’ spot. The addition of another large piece of infrastructure which will be used in similar peak times will detrimentally affect nearby residents and increase road and pedestrian incidents. I understand that overflow parking would be made available in McDonald Jones however this parking is for paying patrons only (with security) so patrons of the basketball will continue to park in residential streets. Note too that Young Rd is shut during McDonald Jones sporting fixtures so all people wanting to access the basketball must access it via the south (Turton Rd) and west (residential streets like Monash Rd).
As a side note, I did a parking study for my Senior Geography project in Year 11 (1998) of the District Park precinct (including the areas bordered by Turton Road, Griffiths Road, Brown Road and Lambton Road. It included meeting with landowners, government agencies and users of facilities. Even then I demonstrated there was a lack of parking spaces available on weekends and there has been no additional parking added to this area since (20+ years)
2. Flood Risks
I have been a resident of Lambton since January 2007 and have experienced the major storms (including the Pasha Bulker storm of June 2007) events. Lambton is a low sea level basin that follows Ker Rai creek. This is evidenced by the large stormwater channels in our suburbs. We have a large corridor of parkland running from North Lambton, Lambton, and onto Broadmeadow. In major events, these parklands are always flooded (taking weeks to dry) due to the soil moisture. Additional rainfall is forced into the Wallarah & Blackey oval area in both street gutters and storm water channels. The people who live near these ovals are apprehensive of additional development in the area as it could mean more flash flooding and storm surges for their properties and the proposed stadium. The proposed Broadmeadow Place Strategy has assumed mitigating flood risks in their precinct by lowering the upstream ovals of Kentish, Ford and Arthur Edden ovals. The existence of the basketball stadium I believe has not been included in these risk assessments. Noting those upstream ovals are already low-lying, this will mean more water will be in this area.
3. Green Space loss
A corridor of green space exists between Lambton Park and Wallarah / Blackley Ovals. The existing Arthur Edden is licenced to a private operator. With the significant development planned in the Broadmeadow Place strategy, keeping this corridor is important for wildlife, oxygen generation and open spaces for people to congregate and enjoy the outdoors. Not all recreational users want to pay to be inside.
4. Youth Wellbeing
As a former student of nearby Lambton High School, those ovals were used extensively during the day for both formal classes and recreation time. I have children who will be attending that school who have not been given the opportunity to address the lack of fields for when they arrive there. Having a large open space is appealing to young people (especially neurodivergent children of which I have one) as a clean space. It allows them to self-regulate. Having a noisy stadium with over sensory triggers (bouncing balls, sirens, whistles) and lots of people movement, the children will feel trapped in the smaller school envelope. Plans to move students offsite to nearby areas eats into their class time (and I’m sure won’t be allowed in recreation time). It also adds additional anxiety to them to walk offsite in an unfamiliar environment.

I object to the project as I believe it is the wrong location for such a development. The following statement is why I believe the Hunter Indoor Sport Center should not be built on the proposed site.
The site is used by the students of Lambton High School for sport, recreation and lunch play time. I believe the school was built on the condition the students can use the fields as the school doesn’t have any usable sport fields onsite. Wallarah and Blakey ovals are also used as the evacuation point for Lambton High School. The school will not have an effective and safe evacuation point if the project goes ahead.
The proposed duration of the build is currently 5 years. There will be a whole cohort of Lambton High students who’s education will be negatively impacted by ongoing construction noise during school hours.
The loss of green space for the community. Many local people use this space for exercise and recreation when not in use by local sporting clubs.
Local sporting clubs will lose this space. Soccer and cricket, both local and representative teams use this space for training and matches. These clubs ‘home’ fields will be moved to fields over 30 minutes drive away making training impossible for the teams. This has the potential to cause people to stop playing their sport of choice and the clubs to lose player numbers and revenue.
This area has been affected by flooding many times in the past and many people lost property and possessions during large rain events. With less green space the flooding will be worse for the local people. It has been recommended that the proposed car park attached to the HISC not be used during rain events. This will cause many problems. Players and their families will be instructed to park in surrounding streets. These streets are residential streets and the people living there will be impacted by an increase in traffic and parking. Players and their families will need to walk, in heavy rain, to the indoor sports center. This will be very dangerous for both pedestrians and drivers due to a reduction in visibility and the sense of urgency to get to matches on time. There is also a risk of balls being dropped on the road and causing a hazard to pedestrians and drivers
This residential area is already used for parking during NRL, A League and major events. Adding an indoor sport center will cause a huge increase in an already over crowded residential area.
The streets surrounding the proposed area are narrow and with users of the HISC parking in them will make it very difficult or impossible for emergency services to access homes in the surrounding streets.
Many native bird species use the existing green space for feeding. I have seen ibis, magpies, cockatiels, galah and cockatoos feeding there.

As a student of Lambton High School, I am very concerned about the planned indoor sports stadium and its potential to take away our green space. This area is not just a field; it's where we play sports, exercise, and spend time with friends. Losing it would have a huge impact on our school life and our health.

The government has been encouraging young people to be more active because there’s a growing issue with youth not getting enough physical activity. At Lambton, we use the ovals daily for sports like touch football, AFL, cricket, and other outdoor activities that need open space. While our school has some indoor sports facilities, they are no substitute for grass fields where we can run, play, and get fresh air. Losing this space would mean less time for these outdoor activities and a decrease in our overall physical activity, which is exactly the opposite of what’s needed right now.

This green space is also essential for our Physical Education classes. If we had to walk off-campus to use other fields, this would cut into class time and require extra staff to supervise, which isn’t practical. It might even prevent us from meeting the required hours for our sports curriculum, which would impact our learning and fitness.

Besides organized sports, this green area is where we spend our lunch breaks and have a chance to relax, play, or just sit in nature with friends. Having this outdoor time is important for our mental health and stress relief. Losing it for a sports stadium, would make our school environment feel more cramped and less welcoming.

Finally, our ovals are the emergency evacuation area for the school. If we lost this space, we would have to gather further away in an emergency, possibly even crossing a busy road. For a school of over 1,200 students, this is a serious safety concern that shouldn’t be overlooked.

In short, the green space at Lambton High is vital to our health, learning, and safety. Replacing it with an indoor stadium will negatively impact all students here, making it harder for us to stay active and affecting our school experience in ways that cannot be easily replaced or recreated indoors.

Impact on Green Space for Lambton High School:

I am deeply concerned about the potential loss of green space and the impact this development will have on Lambton High School students, a significant group largely overlooked in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Although the proposal mentions providing access to indoor courts for the school, Lambton High School already has extensive indoor and covered sports facilities. However, open green space is essential for fulfilling a variety of physical education requirements, such as touch football, oz tag, AFL, cricket, and track-and-field sports like javelin and softball – all of which depend on natural grass fields.

Alternative ovals outside school grounds are mentioned as substitutes, but requiring students to walk off-campus turns these activities into excursions, necessitating additional staff and reducing actual class time. This might jeopardize the school’s ability to meet the prescribed hours for physical education. Furthermore, these fields offer a valuable place for students to engage in informal activities or unwind in nature, which supports mental health by reducing stress and fostering a positive mood. This essential green space loss could impact students' well-being and overall school experience.

Additionally, the current ovals serve as the emergency assembly area for the school. In the event of an emergency, alternative gathering spots would require students and staff to cross roads, posing a significant safety risk. Replacing this green space with a sports stadium raises concerns about emergency preparedness and safety logistics for over a thousand students and staff.

Traffic and Parking Concerns:

As a local resident familiar with traffic patterns, I am concerned that the stadium will worsen congestion on an already busy road network, particularly around peak times when nearby sports events or concerts occur. The EIS indicates that peak usage for the stadium would overlap with existing peak traffic times, with potentially 500 vehicles per hour. This volume will put a considerable strain on local roads, particularly given the limited 220 parking spaces available on-site. It’s likely that visitors will park in surrounding residential streets, which were not included in the EIS traffic assessment but will bear the brunt of overflow parking.

The entrance on Turton Road also presents a challenge, as it requires a left turn that’s already difficult to manage. Drivers will likely turn into narrow residential streets to reach the stadium parking lot, further increasing congestion and creating additional noise and disruption for residents. Omitting these residential streets from the traffic assessment fails to capture the full impact on local roadways and the burden on the community.

Concerns about Funding Feasibility:

The estimated cost of this stadium is around $90 million, and with $60 million still unfunded, there are legitimate concerns about whether the necessary funding will ever materialize. Newcastle Basketball recently applied for a $12 million grant but was unsuccessful, casting doubt on their ability to secure the remaining funds. Approving the project without verified funding could result in an incomplete facility and a permanent loss of green space for the school and community, with no guarantee that the stadium will be completed as envisioned.

On the basis of:
1. The loss of a beautiful and well utilised green space
2. Environmental impact (i.e. rainfall runoff / flooding)
3. Traffic congestion
4. Bureaucratic bullying tactics
5. Unpatriotically favouring basketball over football and cricket...
I unequivocally object to the proposal. It's a terrible idea.
Leave Wallarah and Blackley Ovals alone!

I fully support the building of a Hunter Indoor Sports Centre. The HISC will be the only indoor sports centre for the Region, not just for use by people in Newcastle and it will cater for a number of sports including basketball. The Region and future generations need this facility. Newcastle Basketball Association is not able to accommodate the number of people wishing to use its facility at Broadmeadow. Wouldn’t it be better to have people playing sport than playing on a device? Please do not take this opportunity away from the people of the Hunter.

I object to this project on the basis that this will deprive the local community and Lambton High School of a major greenspace including sporting ovals which are in near constant use during local football, cricket and rugby seasons. Local sporting teams are constantly vying for space on these fields, especially after the regular wet weather washouts and subsequent rescheduling of fixtures.
I object to the loss of general-use green space, depriving the local community of recreational opportunities for activities such as walking & running, dog-walking and the use of the local skate park. In an area of mostly young families, this would be an unacceptable loss.
Finally, I object to the deprivation of green space in favour of yet more built environment in a time of ever accelerating climate change. It is a matter of fact that the replacement of natural features with more concrete, tarmac and rooftops leads to the increase of urban heat, and the loss of ground-water absorption will only exacerbate future flooding events.
I implore all responsible to consider the recently-remediated vacant space at the former Gasworks on Chatham Road, Hamilton North. This would be a far more appropriate location and would result in no net loss of natural features or public amenity for the city .

Summary of opposition
The Western Suburbs Junior Cricket Club (WSJCC) strongly opposes the development. As the major summertime user of the grounds proposed for development, we wish to raise concerns that the Social-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) for this State Significant Project has not adequately complied with its requirements, particularly relating to SEARS Item 17 (Social Impact). We also believe that the model of engagement was also significantly flawed and failed to properly consult with our club as a relevant impacted and primary user of the site and failed to identify and address our concerns to mitigate the impact to our club. Because of this, while the SEIA is required to identify, predict, and evaluate likely social impacts in a manner proportionate to the project’s context and consequences, we believe that the assessment has overlooked or insufficiently addressed the significant impacts this development will have on our club, its members, and the broader cricketing community that relies on these grounds for sport and recreation. The failure to account for the displacement of a well-established community organisation such as ours raises questions about the completeness and accuracy of the SEIA, which in turn affects the validity of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as a whole.
A more detailed response to the submission with associated evidence has been attached.

As a lifelong resident of Newcastle (also I played basketball at the stadium) I have seen this area at Lambton flood on a regular basis. No amount of drainage or build up will help. It would just push the problem sideways into residents homes. Refer to the storm Pasha Bulka, where a life was lost in this area due to flooding.

There is room to build it in the Sports precinct.

Parking and movement around this area is impossible when events are on in this area already. It will just compound the problem.

Green spaces in Newcastle need to be protected NOW not in 20 years.

I feel the submissions for this project were keep secretive by the last Council because the Lord Mayor has personal connections with the stadium board. (This is public knowledge of her close friendships with people pushing this decision.


There is land in other council areas close by, these should be explored.


Finally, there was not enough information or transparency in the development of this proposal..Do not make decisions in Sydney that affect Newcastle, please!

Traffic Management
My greatest concern about the new basketball development in this proposed location is the flow on effect the added traffic attending the basketball stadium will have on the already saturated Turton Road and surrounding local residential streets.
Has a Traffic Management Survey been conducted for this proposed development?
Has it considered all the effects on the residential surrounding streets?
Was it conducted by an independent company or a government agency?
As I am not able to locate any traffic management survey or plan, I will assume that this has not been undertaken or has not been released due to the unfavourable findings.

There is around 200 car parking spots proposed for this development. The current basketball stadium has a similar capacity and yet vehicles still have to park on the surrounding streets and areas. This will be a constant inconvenience for local residents.

There is a set of pedestrian traffic lights at this location on Turton Road used by cyclists and pedestrians which are frequently used. Are these going to be moved, removed or left insitu? The use of these traffic lights could see further congestion to traffic entering the basketball stadium carpark.

Access / egress to this development will be from the north bound lanes on Turton Road only.
There is no access into the development site from the south bound lanes of Turton Road as it is currently divided by a concrete medium strip.
Is there any plans to change this to allow access?
If so what effect will that have on the flow of traffic along Turton Road?

Access to the proposed development for all south bound traffic will require vehicles to make a right turn from Turton Road at either;
1. Young Road Intersection, then travel past a school, along Womboin, Wallarah and Monash Roads (All residential streets)
2. Monash Road intersection and U-turn to travel north.
3. Lambton Road intersection and then wind your way back through residential streets.
All of these options will see an increased level of traffic movements through local residential areas. Has any allowance been made for traffic management in these areas? Has any planning or costings been made to extend the right turn turning lanes as the increased traffic using the three turn options will cause further congestion as they currently on allow for 3 to 4 vehicles to wait to make a right turn.
Clashes with Other Activities
The position of this development will see clashes with both the Hockey complex (Across the road) and MacDonald Jones Stadium (also across the road).
The events held at these locations already see total saturation of the local area with traffic movements, pedestrian movements and parking issues, not to mention the rubbish left behind.
What will happen when the public attending the football, soccer, hockey, special event, or concert decide to park in the basketball public carpark and leave no parking the basketball people.
The current basketball stadium usually operates at peak times through the afternoon/evenings all week long so it is highly likely that there will be numerous clashes with the public attending the other sporting activities.
Turton Road
Peak hour traffic movement along Turton Road in both directions is already at saturation level with delays in movements in both directions especially the PM peak hour period from 3pm to 6pm.
The addition of this development in this location will only further congest the traffic conditions along this section of roadway.
Police and council already use counter traffic flow diversions when there are major events at MacDonald Jones stadium which results in the closing of Young Road at Turton Road, close the right turn option at Monash Road, and occasionally the right turn option at Lambton Road. What will the basketball attendees do in these situations?
Summary
The construction of the proposed Hunter Indoor Sports Centre at this location will create further traffic congestion along the already saturated Turton Road and surrounding streets.
No budget has been allocated by the NSW Government to alleviate the traffic congestion, or upgrade the roadways in this proposal so local residents in the surrounding streets will suffer from continual traffic congestion.
Where I am not apposed to the building of the new Hunter Indoor Sports Centre, I do not agree with the proposed location on Turon Road.

I believe the concept of having a basketball stadium at the site proposed has two major disadvantages:
1. It is currently a green area where multiple sports, training and general activity occurs. Losing another green space, I believe is not good for the community (even if it provides a new sporting arena). There must be other spaces where this trade off doesn't need to occur. I am also concerned about the effect of waterflow in the area. At present the green pace would have some level of catchment of rainfall, whereas when it becomes concrete the water will flow off in high volume causing potential overflow of the drains. Lastly the green space is a break in the constant concrete jungle and whilst there would still be some green space in the corridor, losing this space to more concrete would I believe be disadvantageous to the community from a visual perspective.
2. Parking in the area is already problematic particularly around game times at McDonald Jones stadium. The inclusion of a basketball stadium with all its patrons will exacerbate this. Further even outside of game times at McDonald Jones stadium traffic flow in the area will compromise the traffic flow causing problems for not only residents in the area but also people just passing through.

My daughter has played basketball at the current stadium and we know what state it is in. We aren't denying that they need a new one but it seems ridiculous to remove so much precious greenspace in an area that the council has deemed a growth corridor and replace it somewhere else. We have so many old houses on big blocks being torn down and replaced with multiple dwellings on the same footprint. Big backyards being traded for more housing and small or no backyard. This is important so people have somewhere to live but kids also need somewhere to play! You can't increase a suburbs population and take away what green space they have.

My children currently attend New Lambton Public School. This is a fine school that sits on a small parcel of land with zero grass. The closest thing to grass my kids get to play on is the astro turf that was installed in the playground a few years ago. Next year my daughter will be attending Lambton High School. Again this is a fine school but it has no playing fields of its own so it pays the council to use the adjacent ovals . This development would take away the schools access to those fields. It is hard enough to get kids off their phones and active a the best of times but to take away the opportunity to run around and be active when they are at school and unable to use their phones.

As it is the kids at the primary school have to be walked down to a local park some blocks away if they wish to play on grass at lunch time I don't want this for my kids for their entire school life. Others may suggest other close by sporting fields, however one is a cricket oval that is regularly used so having a heap of high school students running over the carefully prepared wicket is going to be frowned upon.

It's funny when I took my daughter to her high school orientation she didn't marvel at the size of the school or the menu on the canteen. The thing she couldn't get over, the first thing she said to me was "mum look at all the grass they have!"

Basketball is a growing sport and within the local community has made huge advancements for progressing women in the sport as well as developing young athletes and coaches. The current stadium is not fit for purpose and cannot keep up with demand. The new submission offers not only a facility for grassroots teams and competitions but also to build a following for our Falcons team.
Without this facility players will be moving to other regional areas and the community will loose the engagement and commercial benefits it could bring

I am a member of Newcastle Basketball and Newcastle basketball has over 10,000 members. these members support numerous indoor sports within the Newcastle precinct for both able bodied and disabled bodies. It is one of the only places that indoor sports like Basketball, Volleyball, Pickleball and other sports can be played. It is a safe and friendly environment that caters for all ages but very importantly it is orientated around children and their sports. I came from a background in swimming as a child whereby I represented both my club, my state and my country. Whilst swimming gave me my life experience in both Elite sports but also team man ship, basketball has been able to show me that Elite sports is not just limited to the few. IN a swimming pool we would have one session with between 50 to 100 in a squad. In basketball we have numerous sessions per day and will have over 100 kids involved from U 12 through to U18 in a session. Newcastle basketball this year is home to 6 U12 teams, 6 U14 teams, 4 to 6 U16 teams and 6 U18 teams. That represents over 30 kids per age group per gender. This is just the representative program, let along the club sport teams, the Hunter Academy program, the seniors program including Youth, state league and NBL1 men and women. Yes, there are other sports teams in Newcastle but none with the growth that we have had over the past 5 to 10 years and the program continues to grow. We are one of the only clubs within Basketball and possibly Newcastle or Northern teams in any sport that have an Indigenous Program and advisory committee.

I would like to express my concerns in regards to this project being planned to be built on grassy sporting areas located in a high densely populated area. There are many flats in this vicinity as well as many houses with small back yards. This area has been widely used by the community as well as the local high school Lambton High. The high school has over 1000 students and without the grass to use at breaks the students will have nowhere to have sports outside on real grass. With many housing developments in Newcastle many open spaces are being built on and there are less areas for the public to use for recreation and sports. Please reconsider other areas to build the basket ball stadium that have more parking and will not be taking away a valuable resource that will never be able to be a grassy recreation area for the community for future generations.

I object this project on the grounds of:

- loss of local parks used by local sports eg soccer and cricket.
-loss of local school grounds for Lambton High.
-Increased local traffic congestion.
-Plenty of land for this proposal to be incorporated into the sporting precinct across the road.
-Loss of green open space in our community,
-Environmental impact and possible increased temperatures.
- Flooding and mine subsidence issues in this area (many houses, including my own has been written off due to mine subsidence in the last couple of years).
What I have learned from my own experience, is that apparently no one ever knows where the mines actually are here as a result of mining in the late 1800s.
- Additional noise and light pollution for residents.

This proposed location for development, is completely inappropriate and will take away what makes New Lambton a desirable play to live.

This stadium needs to be built for the better of Newcastle residents, just not here.
The sporting precinct across the road is the only viable location.

Please actually listen to your community!!!!!

Thanks

Josh

I am objecting to the proposed basketball stadium known as the hunter indoor sports centre, being built on Wallarah and Blackley ovals, New Lambton. Reasons below;

Loss of valuable greenspace which is accessible to all ratepayers. We walk and ride along the cycleway next to the ovals because of the beautiful view of the parklands. Loss of this precious green space will impact our mental health and wellbeing
Loss of valuable sports fields for the adjacent high school, Lambton high. These fields have been available to this school since it was built and they have paid fees to council to use them. They are used for sport, pdhpe, lifestyle and recreation SLR, recess and lunch, extracurricular activities eg colour run, cross country, emergency evacuations. If the school loses these ovals then all these activities will be considerably limited students having to leave school grounds, costing precious time and additional costs to travel elsewhere. Newcastle basketball has said the school can use the stadium but they already have a full indoor court in their multi purpose centre and two sheltered courts so don’t need the stadium at all. They also will have to pay to use it.

Flood risk. These ovals are in a known flood zone and the storm water drains struggle already with drainage. Without these ovals acting as a sponge the extra water from this concrete structure will cause the drains to overflow and flood the surrounding homes.

Traffic is of major concern in this area. The proposed stadium is situated between two major roads, Griffith and Lambton rds. Also a major stadium used for soccer, rugby league, motor cross, concerts and international sporting events, is directly opposite this site. There is also a major hockey centre opposite this site too. Cars travelling from the north, east and west will struggle to turn into the proposed stadium as there is only entry from the south. Parking is a nightmare already and the streets surrounding are narrow and become unsafe when events are on. The basketball stadium will be at its busiest between 3:30 and 8:30 pm when the traffic on Turton road is at a standstill every week day already.

Cost of the stadium is a worry. Newcastle basketball only have $25 million to spend to spend on stage 1, and no guarantee of any more money forthcoming for the rest of the build which is going to be at least $80 million more than they have. I’m really worried we will lose 3 ovals for a half a basketball stadium.

The community engagement report for this project has been inadequate. I attended a drop in session a t the basketball stadium which didn’t answer any worrying questions and really didn’t provide any information.

Howdy, definitely not a fan of removing green space and ovals to support what is at best a vanity project and at worst a serious waste of funds. Not that you even have all of the required funds invested.

There’s a basket centre in Newcastle already. Spend the money to fix that up or to fix the parking issue in the city centre that’s causing businesses to go bust because it’s such a mission to actually get there.

I’m sure this will go ahead anyway because why not build this monstrosity, erase family spaces and create even more traffic problems than we already have.

All for it

This is desperately needed for our area and is in a designated sporting precinct.

PLEASE for the sake of encouraging youth and all to have a place to play, stay fit and enjoy