Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

If the project goes ahead, there will be a significant loss of green space and difficulty with parking for local residents.

I moved here in long before the upgrade to McDonald Jones Stadium and the Hockey Centre. My neighbor's and I only had a few thousand NRL fans during the NRL season. Since the upgrade we have 30,000 NRL fans, when that season finishes, we have the A League Soccer season 8,000 supporters. Plus in between with have Events/Music Concerts with 30,000 plus fans. NCC have now increase that from 5 to 18 WITHOUT any consultation with ALL the residents impacted by this change. McDonald Jones Stadium only has parking for approximately 1,000 cars. Which half is taken up by staff and visitors who park there to get the NSW Government funded free bus shuttle to the John Hunter Hospital, to elevate the congestion up there.
The homes and roads around here were built in the 1040's. When cars are parked on either side of the road, you can barely get one car down, If 2 cars come at the same time one has to reverse back. We cannot have family gatherings when we want too, we have to always check when there is something on at the Stadium. It rules are lives, we feel like prisoner's in our own homes. The EIS report said only a few streets will be impacted. That's not true cars are parked for kilometers away. I am very concerned if there is a major incident in my street, that an ambulance or fire truck wont be able to get down. When a music concert or Knights games are on people park their cars from 7 am in my street, then go away till the concert or game is on at 8 pm.
In one of the reports Newcastle Basketball said the would co-ordinate with the Knights. None of the sporting groups co-ordinate their draws for the season. On Saturday 19th October 2024 the Hockey had their Pride round with no parking on their grounds, which meet they had to park in the local streets. The Newcastle Jets had a game on the same day with 8,032 fans. I had family and friends ringing me to see if they could could park on my property as there were no parks in nearby streets. People get frustrated so they squeeze in where ever they can, over our driveways and and close to the corners, blocking driver's views. They get abusive if asked to move.
When the Knights play, they close part of Young Rd. in both directions. Monash Rd. they close of the turn right into Turton Rd, drivers can only turn left. This was not mentioned in the traffic impact study.
The health experts are saying our children are overweight and they need to get off their devices and go outside. So, the NSW Government and NCC want to take 3 green fields away?
The park is host to many native birds.
On Monash Rd. one side has a very large unfenced open drain, unsealed surface with large potholes, drivers have to do a 90 % angle reverse park(another accident waiting to happen) people have to walk on the Road for meters to get to a footpath to walk on. The EIS report says Newcastle Basketball are taking some of the shared walk/bike track, so hundreds and hundreds of people that use this shared path to walk to McDonald Jones Stadium for sporting and concerts events will have to walk on the road. This area flooded in 2007, they have been no changes, to prevent this happening again. The only thing that changed was our House Insurance has gone up thousands of dollars.
I am not against Newcastle getting a new Stadium. There is no adequate bus or rail service to this area.
There has been NO TRANSPARENCY between Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Basketball with the residents that will be greatly impacted by this new project. I can' comprehend why they want to put more cars and people into this already chaotic, very dangerous and stressful situation.

My children go to lambton high where they use these fields regularly for pe and sports activities. Taking this area away reduces opportunity for physical outdoor activity which is so important for youth to get fresh air away from screens.
I also work events at McDonald jones stadium where currently i am able to get a car park down the side street of the fields. If a stadium was there operating a lot of this street car parking would be reduced as so many more visitors to the spot would be there. Finishing some shifts at night being able to currently park reasonably close to the stadium to walk to car is important for safety.
Currently traffic around this area on game days at stadium is already chaotic, a basketball centre with so many more cars around is dangerous.
The cricket and soccer clubs that currently play on these fields shouldn’t lose their home fields to a building. Grass area in the vicinity is very important to so many.

I support the new basketball stadium in Lambton. I would encourage the basketball association to consult with Lambton High and have an agreement in place to allow students use the facility as an indoor space would be great for students on wet days in particular. As a resident of Lambton, I believe this facility will be great for the community and local businesses. During major carnivals, parking should be made available at the football stadium across the road. I’ve spoken with lots of work colleagues and neighbours and the new facility is getting many adults who have played basketball in the past to consider taking up the sport again.

The proposed project is in the wrong location. The playing fields are used by many sporting groups and by pupils of the adjoining high school. Alternative sites have been suggested by others, that would not have an impact on those sporting groups, the school and the local community, which would suffer the burden of increased traffic and loss of local amenity. The proposed project should be located on existing unused areas of District Park, such as the disused former hockey fields with access off two streets that run off Lambton Road.

As a local resident who has children attending Lambton High School and someone who has had involvement with sporting cubs, I would like to object to this proposed project.

As outlined below, I believe the EIS fails to provide evidence for many statements that are relied on to justify the development and that it lacks an adequate assessment of the community concerns. The flood modelling has not adequately assessed the increased the potential impacts of the development. The EIS also relies heavily on unsupported statements attributed to City of Newcastle (CN), e.g. that options for alternative sites have been evaluated, that the capacity of other sporting field has been evaluated and that other sporting clubs support the proposal. As such, it is impossible to test the veracity of these statements which mean that many of the arguments in support of the proposal are unsubstantiated. I have limited my specific comments to these few key issues.

1. Alternative sites
The document states that “well over a dozen sites’ were considered as alternatives for this project, yet no details are provided other than a brief mention of an RDA being lodged for a site at Hillsborough Road, Charlestown. As such, there is no supporting evidence provided for the statement that “Alternative sites that would be subject to private leasing arrangements are not feasible alternatives” (p. 29).

Similarly, in the summary of community views (p. 57), the issue of this development being in the wrong location is listed as a key issue, but the response of the application was that the site is underutilised. No evidence is provided for this statement and indeed the assumption seems to be that the only sporting teams could utilise the site. The major users of the site are Lambton High School (LHS) students and staff and the general public. The fact that LHS uses the site every day of the school week for subjects such as PE, PASS and SLR (the latter two being HSC subjects). In addition, students are told to use Wallarah oval at recess and lunch if they wish to run around or plat ball sports (e.g. soccer, AFL). In fact, the only large ball sport the children are permitted to play on the school premises is basketball, i.e. the school does not require any new basketball facilities especially when this would prevent them from participating in so many other activities.

The use of Wallarah ovals by the general public has also not been adequately acknowledged, not has the loss of green space and the consequences for community well being and the local environment (i.e. it is well established that build areas increase local temperatures on warm says due to the contribute to the ‘heat island effect’).

The applicants also respond to this issue (p. 57) by stating that CN has engaged with three local sporting clubs and claiming that they are supportive of the proposal. Again, no evidence for this is provided, e.g. the letters of support.

2. Loss of playing fields/open space
This issue is inadequately addressed. As stated above, there is no information provided on current usage and how this could be accommodated elsewhere, nor is there any assessment of the ramifications for the school. A footnote in one figure of the Landscape Masterplan suggests that there will be a 16 x 47 m area of green space available to the school and the public. This represents a 97% reduction in space, with the residual area being inadequate for many school activities. Although it is stated on p. 58 that BANL has committed to providing the school access to the indoor facilities (HISC), it is not clear that the remnant outdoor space will be able to be used by the school in the same way that the current Wallarah ovals are used, i.e. every school day for formal and informal sporting and play activities. Indeed, the school has indicated that this remnant green space will not be usable in the same way, not only due to the size, but also the lease arrangements by BANL.

There are also no details provided of what alternative sporting facilities will be available, nor how they could or would be improved.

3. Social impacts (p. 90)
Basketball NSW is cited as reporting that Newcastle’s participation rate in this sport is half that of other benchmark LGAs and well short of the city’s estimated ‘potential’. The EIS therefore uses a guesstimate about potential participation in basketball to justify removing space from other sports which are demonstrably more popular that basketball in Newcastle.

It is stated that “The HISC will provide increased opportunities for social engagement, support local community networks and create an inclusive environment for participants, volunteers and supporters”. There is absolutely no evidence provided to support this statement.

Indeed, the final dot point in this section predicts the complete opposite where it is stated “The proposal will reduce the open space available for local sporting clubs and Lambton High School as well as informal access by the community to the open space”. Given that the other local sports are more popular than basketball, this indicates there will be a net reduction in social engagement, etc.

4. Built environment (p. 102)
The effects of flooding have not been adequately addressed. The flood modelling (Appendix CC) does not include tidal influence (via Styx Creek / Lambton Ker-rai Creek) which, during high tides, can significantly increase the likelihood and severity of flooding. See recent work by NSW DCCEEW. The Flood Impact Assessment has not considered this. See also the paper by Hague & Talke (2004) [https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF003993] which identified Newcastle as one of the most likely cities in Australia to reach 50d per year of flooding in the next 25 yrs. Replacing green space with hard surfaces, as per this proposal, will exacerbate this problem for the city.

Please see the attached document outlining my reasons objecting to this project.

I object to the proposed Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) for the following reasons:
1.Relocation of sporting groups - It is not fair that one sporting group will benefit and take away oval space from other sporting groups.
2.Impact on Lambton High School - As a current student at Lambton High School the proposal will significantly impact all members of Lambton High School. With the mobile phone ban more students are using Wallarah and Blackley Ovals at recess and lunch. It will also impact PE lessons and other activities such as Colour Run and cross country. Wallarah and Blackley Ovals are used as an Emergency Evacuation point.
3.Loss of green space
4.The estimated cost - an exorbitant amount of money is to be spent to benefit one sporting group.

I oppose the proposed Hunter Indoor Sporting Centre for the following reasons:
1) Impact on traffic
The proposed carpark design will have approximately 220 spaces for car parking. This will cause major issues for traffic as the limited number of parking spaces on site will not adequately accommodate the predicted number of visitors and patrons expected. The low number of parking spaces will have a flow on effect to the residents who live near the centre as patrons who cannot park within the on-site carpark will need to park in the side streets near the stadium i.e. Monash Road and surrounding streets. This will significantly impact access to homes for the residents and their guests. Also, the increased congestion in these narrow side streets will significantly impact access for emergency services, when required, as the streets will become too narrow for an emergency vehicle to travel through. Additionally, the location of the carpark entrance will increase traffic along Turton Road, with patrons having to turn in and exit onto Turton Road, which would be hazardous and inconvenient for other drivers travelling along the road.

2) Impact on Lambton High School students
As a former student of Lambton High School, I have utilised these ovals for PE lessons, weekly sport and other events, e.g. cross country, colour run. The school currently has a very small amount of greenspace located within the school grounds, which is not enough to cater for the 1200+ students who attend the school. The loss of this vital greenspace will not only reduce the amount of accessible green space to students, but it will also disable access to greenspace for PE lessons, weekly sport and break times, with students having to utilise Kentish and Ford ovals to access greenspace. This impact will flow on to school administration and staff as permission notes will need to be generated and distributed to parents for staff to be permitted to take students to utilise these ovals, whilst additional risk assessments must be undertaken. Additionally, the loss of this area will prove to be a hazard for students and staff, as these fields are utilised as the primary emergency evacuation point, due to its close proximity to the school. With this space gone, students and staff will be forced to evacuate to another site, which would prove to be very inefficient as more than 1200 students and staff will need to move from away from the school.


3) Loss of green space
The chosen location of Wallarah and Blackley Ovals for the new sports centre will significantly impact the general public, sporting groups and Lambton High School.

I strongly object to the development of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) at the proposed Monash / Wallarah Road Lambton site as the site is totally unsuitable for the following reasons;

Flooding
I have firsthand experience of the flood issues in the vicinity of the proposed stadium as I reside approximately 500 meters upstream of Ker-rai Creek from the proposed site. We heavily rely upon Ker-rai Creek to do its job i.e. efficiently draining stormwater away from our property after heavy rain events. We typically experience these rain events approximately 3-4 times per year and, on each occasion, large volumes of stormwater seriously flood our backyard. These events are likely to increase in frequency with the effects of climate change.
The proposed site for the stadium lacks merit as it will exacerbate flooding as follows:
1. It is inevitable that the hard surfaces of the proposed new stadium and adjacent car parks will create additional large volumes of stormwater in an area where there is already a serious flash flooding issue. Also, the extra stormwater run-off that will flow into Ker-Rai Creek will delay the efficiency of the stormwater ‘drain off’ upstream. It means that people like us who live upstream will suffer greater stormwater backup that will take longer to drain from our properties. I am seriously concerned that our home will be inundated with stormwater if this site is used. Many of the home in the vicinity already have flooding issues, why make it worse?
2. The current green space acts as a sponge by absorbing a lot of rainwater. We will lose advantage of that absorption if the proposed stadium proceeds. That is, we are reversing the current benefit the current green space provides and, instead, large volumes of stormwater will be generated. This is a huge step backwards.
3. How can a development have merit when:
a. The EIS suggests that site management should cancel or postpone events if a relevant severe weather warning is issued by the BoM (EIS page 87). How can we justify spending such vast sums of money on a stadium on this site when it is not an “all weather” venue?
b. It has been advised that a suitable bollard arrangement should be constructed along the northern and southern boundaries of the proposed stadium car park area to prevent vehicles from being washed into the Lambton Ker-rai Creek or instal other key drainage infrastructure (Appendix C, Risk & Mitigation Measures report, page 11 and Appendix CC Torrent Consulting report, page iii). If it is predicted that cars will wash away during a rain event, then I suggest that this site cannot be suitable for this development.
c. The Risk & Mitigation Measures report (appendix C, page 11) states that the threat to people/property in the event of a flood is rated at ‘medium’ which, considering we are referring to people’s lives, is quite a substantial rating. How can a risk rated to people/property as high as ‘medium’ be justified?

Traffic & Safety
The Risk & Mitigation Measures report (appendix C, pages 2 & 3) states that the risk of vehicular accidents and injury arising from unsafe access to the site is ‘medium’. I regard this rating as high enough to confirm that this site lacks merit for this development.
I live in the vicinity of this development and experience firsthand the significant traffic congestion when an event is held at McDonald Jones stadium. We live on the eastern end of Karoola Road and the traffic turning the corner from Womboin Road into Karoola Road after an event creates a gridlock whereby cars are at a standstill taking up to an hour to dissipate. It is important to note that this problem will be exacerbated if a simultaneous event is also held at this proposed basketball stadium, McDonald Jones stadium and the hockey stadium.

Parking
As stated previously, I live in the vicinity of this development and have experienced firsthand the issues with street parking when an event is held at McDonald Jones Stadium. Street parking is at a premium & people have to park long distances away from McDonald Jones stadium. It becomes even more sparse when an event is held simultaneously at the Hockey Stadium. I cannot understate how much more this will be a problem will be exacerbated if a simultaneous event is also held at this proposed basketball stadium. The 240 parking spaces allocated for the stadium is grossly inadequate.

Loss of Open Space
The Risk & Mitigation Measures report (appendix C, page 16) states that the loss of current open space (i.e. Blackley & Wallarah ovals) risk is rated as ‘high’. This is a significant rating and confirms that once this open space is lost, it will be lost forever.
This open space is currently highly utilised by members of the public and sporting facilities. There is also a significant amount of birdlife (mainly ibis) that feed from these ovals. How can the relocation of the existing sporting clubs to alternative facilities, which I understand will be at long distances away, be justified? How can this proposed development justify Lambton High School losing it’s play & sporting fields? In essence, this proposed development means that the current green space is being converted from a multiple use to single use space i.e. basketball only. How can this be justified?
There is a proposed large high density housing development planned in close vicinity to this open space, and we have been told that this space will be the closest green space to that housing development. I submit that this green space will therefore be required more than ever.

The current Newcastle City Council together with our local State MP the Honourable Sonya Hornery (State Member for Wallsend) do not support this site for the basketball stadium and I along with the majority of most local residents do support this either.

I strongly object to the development of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) at the proposed Monash / Wallarah Road Lambton site as the site is totally unsuitable for the following reasons;
1 Flooding
The site is subject to flooding, as is a lot of the adjacent sites. Building of the HISC in a flood area is negligent, a risk to public safety and exacerbates the flooding issues for many neighbouring properties.
2 Loss of amenity
The ovals that will destroyed by the HISC are a much-loved community asset – used by a diverse range of people for sporting and recreation purposes, including students at Lambton High School.
An asset should not be destroyed to be replaced with, what many in the local community regard as a liability, and only available to a select sporting group.
This highly valued green space will even increase further in value as the population of the area grows.
3 Environmental
These ovals are part of the lungs of Newcastle, a breath of fresh air in a busy city. They are frequented by many flocks of birds on a regular basis and provide a sponge to alleviate flooding in times of high rainfall. Green space once destroyed is irretrievable and its loss will adversely add to the urban heat effect.
4 Better Options
The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, together with our local State MP the Honourable Sonya Hornery (State Member for Wallsend) and most local residents do not support this site and all agree there are better options suitable for the HISC.
A site in an area that does not flood or destroy green space in the heart of a major city has to be a better option.
Newcastle and surrounding districts have many brown field sites that could be explored for this development.
5 Conclusion
The building of a major structure such as the HISC on a greenfield site in a flood prone area is nothing more than a dereliction of duty.

I oppose the project due to the following adverse affects:
- increased vehicle and human traffic in the area
- increased parking in local streets.
- adverse effect on flood risk
- removal of local playing fields and green areas
- removal of grounds and evacuation mustering area used by Lambton High School

I am writing on behalf of New Lambton Football Club Inc. (NLFC) to object to the proposed development of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) on Wallarah/Blackley Ovals in New Lambton NSW 2305.

We play out of Novocastrian Park on Orchardtown Road and Regent Park on Regent Street New Lambton NSW. These Parks are hired from the City of Newcastle (CN). We are a suburban, grass-roots, not-for-profit community-focussed local football club. We have approximately 1000 members, 317 of whom are females and we also have a contingent of 71 members who identify as having a disability.

We find many of the details of the Environmental Impact Statement do not reflect this situation as experienced by our club and community. We would like to draw your attention to the following statements:

Limited floodlighting and amenities at Wallarah/Blackley (EIS Report)- there is flood lighting across all three football sized playing field ovals (6 poles in total). The lights themselves are an older style of light, but could be easily upgraded to modern LED lighting by the City of Newcastle (CN). A similar project underway at Novocastrian Park, funded by NLFC and Northern NSW Football, will cost less than $200k for CN to deliver. The amenities building at Wallarah Oval is less than 10 years old and is of a modern brick construction. It has a large modern canteen. It is also of a female friendly design. It is far more modern and suitable than the vast majority of sporting facilities in the CN council region. Our current facility at Novocastrian Park was built in the 1960s and has had very minimal upgrades over time. While the fields are predominantly used for Junior (under 12s) purposes currently, they are adequately sized and constructed for full field games to be played.

Availability of equivalent facilities elsewhere within the LGA (EIS Report)- The socio-economic impact assessment states ‘It is acknowledged that several sporting clubs that do not currently utilise the site do not support the development (on the basis of reduced overall playing fields) although Council has noted that there is significant capacity to meet sporting needs into the future through its portfolio of fields’. While this is a frequent assertion of CN that it has underutilised ovals in its portfolio, it has not been the experience of NLFC. When requesting the use of any additional facilities in the LGA we are given very few, if any, alternatives. As an example, when Regent Park was closed for a prolonged period of time due to vehicular vandalism of the surface, no ground in the LGA could be provided for the playing of junior football matches on a 40m x 60m field. The replacement of three full fields of space at Wallarah and Blackley with one field of space at Johnson Oval Lambton is not equivalent. Ground space at Tarro (the replacement proposed for Newcastle Football) is a 30-40 min drive on a midweek afternoon from New Lambton. The removal of Johnson Oval from the use of New Lambton Eagles Football Club (Premier/Senior) in summer has already seen them allocated increased ground space at Novocastrian Park- displacing our use of this facility. Our training space has been reduced in 2024 at Novocastrian Park and no viable alternatives offered within a distance suitable for junior community football players. The fields offered for extra training space had major inadequacies in terms of water inundation, no safe parking and/or no lighting. The removal of 3 fields of space suitable for football puts pressure on an existing high demand sport in this suburb.

Consultation has been undertaken with Newcastle Football- Newcastle Football (NF) are the Zone Association in which NLFC participates in our local community football competitions. NF are a limited company with operations aside from competitions for their member clubs. From the copy of their Letter of Support we have viewed, we believe they are replying based on their current Winter licence use of Wallarah. NF use Wallarah to primarily train their Representative teams, and this has less need to be in a particular location as compared to regular club training and games. In recent years, NLFC has used Wallarah at the invitation of NF when extra space was required, mostly due to Novocastrian Park and/or Regent Park being closed due to Wet Weather. There has been no consultation undertaken directly with their wider member clubs. In this instance we are not in agreement with our Zone Association in their support of the location of the HISC.

Participation Numbers- the Socio-economic impact assessment highlights the large number of participants in Basketball (who are the primary intended users of the HISC), with a stated 5,300 members. Football (soccer) is the highest participation sport in NSW, Hunter Region and Newcastle LGA. Newcastle Football reports over 11000 participants (covering Newcastle and Port Stephens LGA) with approximately 30% female participation. Macquarie Football (Lake Macquarie LGA) had a reported 7,635 players in 2019, making the participant numbers to compare to the Basketball scoping as approx 18 000 players. As stated above, NLFC had approx 1000 members in 2024 (Winter Participation) with just over 30% female participation. Similar to the stated situation of waitlists for basketball, we turn away many prospective players annually. This is in large part due to being at capacity for teams due to playing space made available by CN. While we sympathise with basketball having constraints on their growth, removal of facilities from a fellow high participation sport with a similar constraint is not in the best interest of community sport participation.

Positive Social Impact- As stated in the Socio-economic impact assessment ‘One Australian study found in many regional and remote communities, it is the local tennis, football or basketball club that provides and sustains community interaction’. NLFC asserts this is particularly true of the impact our club and other local football clubs have in our community. In 2024, 45% of our participants resided within the New Lambton 2305 postcode. A further 29% reside within the adjoining postcodes (2287, 2289, 2290 and 2291) and the remainder of participants are within the Greater Newcastle area. Football is highly relevant to local community engagement, and a reduction in space available affects the provision of this. Football provides all the stated benefits of ‘Improved physical health, reduced risk of chronic and acute disease, improved mental health and improved education and productivity outcomes’ that are attributed here to basketball. Again, the removal of one existing sports ability to provide the positive benefits to allow space for another is not growing the positive effect of sport as a whole.

As stated in the EIS ‘Individuals who did not support the proposal had a view of, right development, wrong location’. This is the viewpoint of NLFC. Many of our members and community also enjoy participating in Basketball and indoor sports. We would like to see their growth continue- but not at the expense of existing sports at this location.

Please see attachment re comments on project

I strongly oppose this ridiculous proposal to build a stadium in a residential area that already struggles with traffic issues. I have used the sporting fields as a player and coach for both soccer & cricket for the past 50 years as well as used as my school sports activities.
Basketball is a minority sport that is not a major sport in Newcastle area. Build it out at Steel River or somewhere that does not involve reducing existing green space playing fields .

Please see attached document containing my OBJECTIONS to this project.

Please see attachments

The site proposed at Lambton will bring much more traffic to that area which is already a very busy traffic thoroughfare. And given McDonald Jones Stadium has sporting and/or entertainment events on a regular basis, as does the hockey centre, this would only contribute to traffic chaos. Leave the park at Lambton "as a park" for leisure and local community sports use! Why not extend the site where the basketball stadium already exists? Maybe remove Hungry Jacks and KFC from nearby and utilise that area as well? Are KFC and Hungry Jacks really necessary there? How many unhealthy fast food outlets does Newcastle really need? We have plenty! Thank you for reading this and hopefully commonsense will prevail and our local community
is more important, instead of another money grabbing Council project.

To whom it may concern:
I wish to raise my objections to the current proposed location of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) and voice my support for council seeking an alternative location for this project.

I live in New Lambton with my husband and 3 children. My husband and eldest play basketball, he attends Merewether High School. My middle and youngest attend Lambton High School and New Lambton Primary, although the youngest will be in year 7 at Lambton High next year.

We need a new basketball stadium, I have no objections to that. We have spent countless hours at the stadium over the years: it’s not big enough, it floods, it has had very little maintenance work carried out on it during our time there.

However the proposed location of Blackley and Wallarah ovals is not the place for the following reasons:
Consultation and loss of green space:
The land is public/crown land and is well utilised by both the adjoining Lambton High School and multiple local sports clubs. Consultation with residents and the community from site selection through to the EIS application submission has been poor. Residents and community have significant valid concerns around loss of the green space that is heavily used by the local school and sporting groups, flooding, parking and traffic.
City of Newcastle Council Advice on SEARs states that ‘The SIA should also consider the impact of the development upon existing and future user groups of the area, and existing and future residents, as well as addressing principles such as equitable use and universal access. It is recommended that the SIA clearly defines 'local residents' by identifying the geographic distance from the site for a resident to be considered local. The methodology utilised to engage with local residents should be clearly detailed with the SIA.’
There is no evidence within the application to show that they have met this requirement, specifically:
Section 5.1 of the Environmental impact statement – HISC on engagement carried out does not list the local residents as a group for direct engagement. Appendix D – Engagement summary HISC, also does not discuss any engagement with local residents. Environmental impact statement – HISC Section 5.3 engagement to be carried out page 59 states ‘BANL will continue the open dialogue that has been established with residents’ yet there is no evidence in any of these reports to indicate that any engagement with residents has occurred. There are no documented meetings to suggest open dialogue with residents, yet 24 documented meetings with Newcastle City Council, who continue to deny that they were involved in selection of the site.
Lambton High School, which has no sports ovals of its own, has used the site for over 50 years. Contradictory to this, page 20 of Appendix D – Engagement summary – HISC, states that ‘the development site was recommended by the City of Newcastle due to its low utilisation (as identified through its sports strategy, 2020), alignment with the adjacent sporting precinct and existing limited supporting facilities (eg limited flood lighting and amenities)’. It is important to note that the sports strategy was carried out in 2020, during COIVD, when there were many interruptions to community sports and attendance at school, making this flawed data to be relying on.
Many children who attend Lambton High School attend New Lambton Primary School. One of the highlights for these children, who have attended a primary school with ZERO grass, is to attend a high school with easy access to grass fields.
Page 62 of the Environmental impact statement – HISC, 5.3 engagement to be carried out, states that ‘Proposed gates to secure the northern setback have been located beyond the existing gate from Lambton High School allowing continued school use of the remnant greenspace along the western frontage of the site’. Almost 25% of our children are overweight or obese (Overweight and obesity in children - HealthStats NSW), they deserve more than the remnant greenspace to encourage sports and activity during their time at school.
Cost concerns:
Appendix G – estimated development cost on page 2 states that the total cost, inclusive of GST, is estimated at $90,875,861. Newcastle Basketball currently have the remains of their $25 million grant, leaving a significant shortfall in funding. There is no report detailing where the remaining money, which is in excess of $60 million, is going to come from. This causes me great concern, as there is no guarantee that the project can even go ahead with adequate funding for stage 1, let alone the project in its entirety.
Traffic and parking:
The traffic congestion and parking implications on local residents is unreasonable. We used to live in Wallarah Road. We couldn’t invite people to our house when there was something on at the stadium because there was nowhere to park. This was 10 years ago. Usage, traffic and parking has only increased over time and adding to this with a stadium in suburbia is an unfair burden to place on residents in surrounding streets.

Only recently Newcastle City Council has rejected not one, but two applications from businesses due to traffic concerns for the local residents.
City of Newcastle - Application Details – Woolworths Broadmeadow
City of Newcastle - Application Details – Hungry Jack Wallsend
Why has the same standard not been applied to this development?
Appendix S- Traffic event management plan states that the site is located within the Broadmeadow Sports and Entertainment Precinct (Hunter Park), which is untrue. It is located opposite this precinct.
It also states, on page 1, that the site is well located to be accessed by public transport from Broadmeadow Station. It claims ‘Broadmeadow railway station is approximately 1 kilometre east of the site’. According to google maps Broadmeadow station is a 1.7km, 23 minute walk. Newcastle Basketball do not present any evidence on how many of their patrons currently arrive by public transport when Broadmeadow station is significantly closer to their current site. What evidence do they have that more people will utilise it when it is further away?
This report also states that “It was confirmed that MJ Stadium has 25 dates annually associated with rugby league or football. These days are typically a Thursday evening, Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday. In addition, there are scheduled concerts and other events held throughout the year. The scheduling of NBL1 dates and tournament dates shall therefore be planned to avoid these key commitments. This will reduce the cumulative impacts of the venues as well as enabling the HISC to make shared use of the parking in the precinct, including the 920 spaces associated with McDonald Jones Stadium for overflow parking”
In 2024 every NBL 1 match was scheduled on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday (NBL1 Newcastle Falcons Schedule - Newcastle Basketball)). There is no evidence of consultation with the NBL 1 to support the suggested scheduling above being accommodated by the NBL 1 league.
The traffic event management plan doesn’t assess the impact residents currently experience when events are on at the stadium. Their parking strategy for every day usage includes the public street parking on Monash Road – Newcaslte Basketball has no claim over these public spaces, even if 80 of these are “ along the site’. They are in fact separated by a drain, and as they state, used as overflow parking when other events are held in the precinct and by residents. These parks cannot be considered as part of the day -to-day parking strategy. Newcastle Basketball has regularly scheduled community games on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, which will all clash with the 25 annual dates for events at the stadium. Their parking strategy is based on 3-4 people sharing a car, which they have no evidence to support currently happens (page 11, section 4.6).
The traffic even management strategy also claims that ‘Spectators can then cross Turton Road at the signalised crossing allowing for the safe and controlled movement of pedestrians at this location’ (after parking at MacDonald Jones stadium). These pedestrian lights operation on demand, and while it will allow for safe and controlled movement of pedestrians it will have a major impact on traffic flow on this arterial road.
I look forward to Newcastle having a new, functional basketball stadium, however not at the expense of our green spaces, children’s ability to freely use the space and livelihood of residents. Section 7.7 of the Envornmental Impact statement, page 104, states that “No adverse environmental, social or economic impacts will result from the proposal”. I strongly feel that this statement is untrue and based on the submission, unjustified with the result being the rejection of the application in this location.

Ref: Hunter Indoor Sports Centre. SSD-65595459
The proposed location is inadequate. The road & current infrastructure cannot presently handle traffic & parking when both the Newcastle Knights & the Hockey Centres are utilised simultaneously. The local streets surrounding the proposed site, are narrow & can only accommodate two cars passing.
The local high school & junior soccer & cricket clubs will no longer have adequate green space for sporting activities to occur.
The proposed stadium will be built on an area that is prone to flooding, due to that its placement is next to a major storm water drain.