Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

Absolutely the worst spot for this to go very disappointed in the council / NSW government decision.
Please pick another spot we are ending up like china and building over every green space we have .

The location of the proposed basketball stadium is in the midst of a growing residential area. If this stadium was built the local high school will loosed grassed area for sports. In addition local soccer and cricket clubs will loose grounds that they normally play on. Close by to this proposed location is the Newcastle hockey fields, another stadium at which the Newcastle Jets and Newcastle Knights play, and also across the road is league fields where local juniors and senior league players play. Take all this into consideration, parking for local residents and their visitors is already at a premium, you are lucky to find a car spot near your home. Add onto this a basketball stadium which includes hundreds of car spaces. Locals will never be able to park close to them homes. The local residents DO NOT want this stadium in the midst of their homes. Surely there is a better location where households are not affected. Taki g away green space to add concrete surely is not the best option for the environment!

I object to the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre due to the following reasons:
- major traffic congestion due to being opposite Hunter Stadium and being located on a very busy road
- parking issues already exist in the surrounding streets. This would further add to the parking problems
- Loss of parkland for local residents
- loss of playing fields for local sporting clubs- soccer, cricket and schools
- increased flood risk for the surrounding area due to the amount of water runoff from the facility
We should never lose our green space in a city. Once it has gone, it has gone for all time.

I object to the idea of constructing a basketball stadium adjacent to Lambton High School. The traffic around the school is already chaotic during matches and events at the existing stadiums which cause the side streets to be closed off and creates enormous parking problems for local residents. It also eliminates the playing fields not just for the high school but also for the cricket, soccer and rugby clubs that presently use these facilities. The building works will create pollution, diesel exhaust and additional hazards for the hundreds of school children that attend the school over months or years. It eliminates the very real prospect for the high school to expand and accommodate additional pupils over the next decade. There are already over a 1000 pupils presently at the school and no real room for expansion. It also creates continuing traffic hazards for the children and parents coming and going from the school. At least at the large stadium presently most of the events occur late in the day or in the evening. The basketball events will be occurring continuously throughout the day. We are already contending with the Hockey Stadium and the Event Stadium. This additional stadium is just too much for this area and I object most strongly to this proposal.

I object to the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre due to the following reasons:
- major traffic congestion due to being opposite Hunter Stadium and being located on a very busy road
- parking issues already exist in the surrounding streets. This would further add to the parking problems
- Loss of parkland for local residents
- loss of playing fields for local sporting clubs- soccer, cricket and schools
- increased flood risk for the surrounding area due to the amount of water runoff from the facility
We should never lose our green space in a city. Once it has gone, it has gone for all time.

I object to the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre due to the following reasons:
- major traffic congestion due to being opposite Hunter Stadium and being located on a very busy road
- parking issues already exist in the surrounding streets. This would further add to the parking problems
- Loss of parkland for local residents
- loss of playing fields for local sporting clubs- soccer, cricket and schools
- increased flood risk for the surrounding area due to the amount of water runoff from the facility
We should never lose our green space in a city. Once it has gone, it has gone for all time.

I object to the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre due to the following reasons:
- major traffic congestion due to being opposite Hunter Stadium and located on a very busy road
- parking issues already exist in the surrounding streets. This would further add to the parking problems
- Loss of parkland for local residents
- loss of playing fields for local sporting clubs- soccer, cricket and schools
- increased flood risk for the surrounding area due to the amount of water runoff from the facility
We should never lose our green space in a city. Once it has gone, it has gone for all time.

I object to the building of the proposed Hunter Indoor Sports Centre on the proposed site, on the following grounds:
The project is planned outside the zoning of the Hunter Park, which is better located for transport infrastructure.
The current transport to the area is inadequate for current use, let alone a further 1million visitors to the area.

The project operating times will negatively impact local residents as the extend considerably past current hours of operation.
The project inadequately addresses impact of local flooding and ignores opportunities for enhanced amenity for visitors- a carpark with crowded basketball courts and building is hardly presentable or desirable.
The proposal fails to provide alternatives to address current use of the space- as playing fields for the local high school, football and cricket teams.
The scope of works does not identify feasible alternatives to this site, which should be within the boundaries of Hunter park.
The local community consultation has been late, and poorly considered.

When I was a junior cricket and soccer coach those ovals were the best the club could offer, and taking part of them away for basketball, an indoor sport, would be very detrimental to the junior kids. I do not support the removal of any of the local park land, particularly when the proposed stadiums can be located in many other areas.

I am lodging my objection to the proposed construction of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre at the proposed site of 2 Monash Road & 24 Wallarah Road, New Lambton. Please find attach document outlining my objections and concerns to the proposal.

I am objecting to this project for the following reasons:
Loss of greenspace. Green space is good for the environment and helps people with their mental and physical health. A stadium on this space would mean only people playing indoor sports could use it which is not inclusive. We need to preserve not destroy greenspace particularly with the impacts of climate change.
Increased traffic in an already crowded area. I drive on Turton road regularly to get to uni and back and forward for work. This road is constantly busy. Putting a stadium with a left turn in and out will result in traffic chaos in the evenings especially at the peak basketball times of 4pm-9pm which will coincide with peak hour afternoon traffic. I am very concerned about the impact of this on my trips to and from work.
The cost. I was very shocked to hear the full cost of this development is $90 million. I do not understand where they will get the extra $65 million from - I do not consent to the state government spending tax payers money on this when there are much higher priorities like public health and education to focus on first. They should not be allowed to start building this if they can not guarantee they can complete it.
I do not support this development in this location.

I strongly oppose the proposal to take away the cricket and soccer ovals and Lambton High playing fields. Outdoor space is so precious and my children and grandchildren have learned and practised many skills on those ovals . This is not in opposition to the basketball stadium which is needed, but please build it in a more suitable location.
Also Lambton High school was built on its site as it had access to playing fields because the actual school playground was limited in size.
Please do something forward-thinking for Newcastle .
Roslyn Williams

My main objection to this location is the traffic congestion which will occur. It’s stated there will be 220 car parking spots which is definitely inadequate especially when other events are on. Presently the hockey fields has a sign on their gates for ‘hockey participants use only”. When Knights games are on or other major events ie concerts etc and Young Road is closed off for safety reason this would mean traffic needing to go to Kotara area etc would be increased in all surrounding suburban streets which would not be able to cope as many are quite narrow especially if cars are parked on both sides of the street (some with caravans/campervans/boats parked out the front of houses . These roads are barely able to cope now. The left turn out of the basketball stadium will become a nightmare. All the surrounding streets will need to be used to accommodate the cars. Basketball officials suggest during peak times 4-8pm 500 people will be accessing the stadium. I think Basketball definitely needs a new stadium but I feel a more suitable location should be found. The lack of green space is definitely another reason why this is the wrong area.

As a local resident, I am very opposed to the building of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre on Wallarah and Blackley Ovals in New Lambton for the following reasons.
I have lived in this area for 25 years, a few hundred metres from the ovals and from Turton Road. I have seen the traffic increase greatly over those years. It’s expected that there will be 22,000 visitors per week to the HISC and our local roads won’t cope with the increased traffic. There are many sports played in this area which already leads to traffic and parking chaos for local residents.
When large events are on at McDonald Jones Stadium, our local streets are used for parking, but this only happens on average once a week over the year. But the new stadium will be open seven days a week and people going there will have to park in the surrounding narrow streets. Once our streets have cars parked on both sides some are reduced to a very narrow single lane road. My husband and I are elderly and it is difficult for emergency vehicles to get to us when the street is parked out. It also makes it very difficult to get in and out of our driveway and if we we have visitors or carers to the house, they cannot get a park anywhere.
I walk on the cycleway next to the stormwater drain every day. There is a natural spring under the ovals and you can see the overflow from the spring flowing into the drain all the time. Has this been considered when the flooding studies for the HISC were done?
I feel very concerned for the residents in the block of 20 units on Turton Road on the northern boundary of the site. They will have the entry/exit driveway and an 18 metre high wall (for the show court) in front of their apartments. Cars will be in and out of the driveway from 6 am to 11 pm seven days a week. This will greatly affect their quality of life on a daily basis.
My grandchildren attended Lambton High School and I know how much they used the ovals for sports activities, lunch breaks and to use as a shortcut when walking to and from school. The ovals are also currently used as their emergency evacuation area. Where else are 1200 students going to assemble in a safe area they can get to quickly?
I don’t think this development should go ahead without full funding. The estimated cost of the development is $80-90 million but the grant they received is only for $25 million. Where will the additional funding come from?

I am strongly opposed to the development of a basketball stadium on this site, for three principal reasons.
1. Loss of green space.
2. Significant negative impacts on traffic and parking.
3. Unfairness to existing users of the site.
Further details in attached document.

I think the sight is very unsuitable there are many other places to have the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre that are suitable

While I do support more sporting facilities in the Hunter area I do not support taking away green space to build a sporting facility. Why do Sydney have a Minister for green space and Newcastle doesn’t. I think this would be a travesty to place an indoor sports facility on an already existing outdoor sports ground. These grounds are currently used by many sports groups and New Lambton high school. There must be a better place for this facility to go than to destroy a lovely well used existing green space. We need to encourage more people outside and into healthy lifestyles and this area has been an outdoor sports facility for well over 100 years. It’s just incomprehensible to accept a building to be built on an outdoor sports facility. Let’s look at alternative spaces in and outside of Newcastle. A space that is not currently utilised like the two beautiful green open oval’s currently on the land.

I support a basketball stadium in the region, but not at this location.

I am providing an attachment which provides a higher level of detail and more specific referencing of documents, which are largely the Appendices of the EIS and EIS itself. I do not support the project based on the following:
- It is difficult to understand how this proposal has been prepared with no real evaluation of alternative location given the obvious inappropriateness of the location.
- Gifting public open space to use as a complex, and in this case a private complex) on public open space already utilised sets a very grave precedent. There are many other open spaces that are next to Broadmeadow Precinct which would then be at risk.
- Gifting public land to a private organisation should require a change of zoning.
- In relation to local and state strategies, there are many references to alignment. There will be any number of local and state strategies in relation to public amenity and public open space that this proposal will be in conflict with. Also, the alignment to strategies, generally, are due to
o the current stadium being removed from the current location (not the proposed location in and of itself; and
o The proposed location being near, adjacent to , in the proximity of the Broadmeadow precinct. The problem with this is that it is not in the precinct plan for a reason – because it is public open space
o The economic strategy would be achieved at many other suitable locations (notwithstanding the funding will not deliver the full complex therefore not deliver the benefits)
- The proposal identifies that public open space as under utilised. Does the EIS provide the data to support his statement? Does any level of government have metrics on utilisation of open space? No data to support the claim.
- The proposal points to alignment to public transport strategies and benefits relating to public transport. There is no comparison of the current stadium against the proposal. To walk, the current stadium is 350m from Broadmeadow station. The prosed stadium is 1.5km. The current stadium has a number of busses from various routes stopping very close to the stadium. The proposed stadium has bus options with most farther away from bus stops than the current stadium. Does the current stadium have any data on the mode of transport used to access the stadium. I would posit that very few people use the trains or busses at that location which is currently more convenient for public transport than the proposal. No regular user of the stadium will walk 1.5km each way to play basketball. Again, no data to support he claim and common sense could also apply.
- The Estimate states it is prepared referencing the EIS. There are fundamental differences in the EIS dates and timeframes and the Estimate. The estimate refers to Start of Construction at end 2024 and an 18 month construction to mid 2026. The EIS states Start of Construction April 2025 and 30 months construction to November 2027. The cost impacts are significant, which I will spell out in more detail in the word document, but fundamentally, the Estimate cannot be relied upon. For this simple basic information to be fundamentally incorrect for a key document puts into question the entire estimate.
- The Appendix G Estimate - Low likelihood of the site being built as per the design
o Estimate of $83m far exceeds existing grant funding of $30m
o The assumptions made to support the cost estimate are unlikely in terms of start date, construction timeframe, high likelihood of delays and the total cost would well exceed the estimate. I estimate $125m total project cost compared to $82 (see my word document).
o There is no information which provides cost by project stage, therefore no evidence that the $30m will be sufficient to build Stage 1.
o An independent flood report is required, which I expect would identify flood mitigation works which would increase the cost.
- The reports supporting the proposal all assume the completion of the full design, which is unlikely given current funding and likely cost escalation, so the benefits (economic, for instance) will not be realised.
- Risk based multi factor analysis of sites has not been conducted and assessments of options are cursory and related to site layouts at the proposed location rather than a real options analysis
- The reports evidence that community consultation was inadequate.
- Request an independent flooding report, due to:
o The flooding report appears to focus on impacts to operation and management of the site in relation to flooding rather than flood impacts of residents and upstream effects
o The report does not consider the risk to motorists due to the impact of exacerbation of water over Wallarah Road at Lambton Ker-Rai during heavy rain events
o There is not a full study of the upstream impacts of the building. I live close to an upstream Hunter Water Drain and am impacted by heavy rain events. I want to be assured that this stadium does not impact my property, as well as other upstream properties from the proposed stadium
o The report refers to the parking areas as flood detention. Very clearly they are not. They exacerbate flooding by speeding up the water flows.
- Traffic
o The traffic solutions are inadequate.
 Drivers exiting site will rat run though Young/Wallarah.
 Parking spaces identified on Monash are not to Australian Standards and need upgrade
 Barrier will be required at the stadium exit onto Turton to stop drivers wanting to cross traffic and travel south.
 Rat run and pedestrian injury risk on Monash approaching stadium entrance due to higher traffic and people in a rush
 The open space offers a safe egress and dispersion from McDonald Jones Stadium after events.
- Climate change is stated as something to be assessed but I found no evidence in the documentation.

Whilst their is a need for a new basketball centre, the location currently under consideration is the wrong location due to the loss of green space, loss of playing fields for two sports plus the local high school, parking difficulties and impact on residences in surrounding streets

I write in support of Newcastle Basketball’s Hunter Indoor Sports Centre proposal.

This proposal has taken nearly seven years to finalise with the main obstacle being finding a suitable site. Not with standing some local resident’s objections, this proposed site is a very good one. It is close to the previous stadium, it is opposite the key sporting precinct of the city, it offers two high schools (Lambton and Broadmeadow Performing Arts) easy local access to an indoor sports facility and it is giving a home to over 6000 members a much needed facility replacing a clearly over used and not fit for purpose stadium at Broadmeadow.

The proposal clearly addresses most of the concerns of local residents in a well thought out consideration of its design. Flood mitigation, parking and traffic have all been addressed in the design. The Newcastle City Council’s recent unanimous support for allowing the State to access the proposal and the Mayor’s amendment to replace any loss of green space should make a win for all, including local residents.
I have five grandchildren who currently use the stadium. I have supported them by traveling to Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Tamworth to watch them play. All three towns have far superior facilities to our much larger Newcastle city. It is with a sense of embarrassment to have the 6th biggest city in the country offering an out of date aging facility. It is well over due.
As a councillor remarked at its recent meeting when it was discussing the proposal, it does not matter where you build a new centre, someone is going to be inconvenienced. This is a great site, a well thought out design progressing in stages and has the regions majority support. I recommend it for your consideration.