Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

This is madness! Green space can, and needs to be protected. People need to be outside on green grass more, not less! Expand the site of the current stadium or remediate the old gasworks site if you need more space. Those ovals are precious to the community, past memories and a better future.

This much needed facility will boost community health, create jobs, and attract sporting events. It will provide modern facilities for athletes, encourage youth participation in sports, and strengthen social connections.

I am writing to object to the proposed development of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre based on its proposed location on Wallarah and Blackley Ovals New Lambton. My objection is as a parent of a current Lambton High School student and prospective parent for my younger children.

Lambton High School has had use of these fields since it was established 50 years ago. They provide space for teaching, sport and play that the school does not otherwise have on site. I foresee many negative impacts of the loss of this greenspace to the students and staff of the school including:

1. Less unstructured physical activity at break times- students won’t be able to travel to other greenspace in their break times.
2. A lack of access to the space for physical education- having to travel to other sites will impact their learning time and active time.
3. Access to other sites will involve increased teacher supervision, permissions and potentially costs to travel to. Students with limited mobility will require extra resources to participate or will miss out.
4. The loss of the space will inevitably lead to fewer sport options or loss of free and low cost activities. Lambton High School has on site indoor sports areas now, and I don’t believe the promised access to the HISC adds value compared to the loss of space.
5. Current space is the emergency evacuation point for the High School
6. Lambton High School is oversubscribed in student enrolments and demand for places likely to rise with other proposed housing developments in the local area. Space available within the school is already crowded and this will worsen the overcrowding of space.
7. Increased traffic around the school site will reduce the safety of active travel to Lambton High School for students
8. A multi-stage development over many years will be disruptive in terms of noise and vibration experienced by students during learning time.

The documents presented in the EIS make minimal mention of the above impacts on the students and staff of Lambton High School. The Socio-Economic Impact Assessment discusses the positive role of physical activity and sport for youth and their communities in the context of participation in basketball. It fails to adequately address the loss of physical activity and sport to the 1100+ current students of the school. I ask that this major impact be considered. The HISC is a necessary project- it needs to be placed on an appropriate site that does not cause significant harm to the current community.

The location of the site is completely unsuitable due to the congestion already present here due to surrounding residential and commercial facilities such as McDonald Jones Stadium.
It is also taking away much needed and used facilities from other sporting organisations as well as taking away the grounds used by Lambton High School.
It is a selfish proposal by the Basketball association which serves no-one in the community except for them.
Instead of rushing into this there should be time taken to find a more suitable location that doesn’t sacrifice the facilities used by many others in the community.
It is appalling to think that if this project goes ahead it will benefit one group to the detriment of multiple other groups for a sport that does not have the representation or following of the the sports that it will take away facilities from.
Hopefully you will see sense and object to this proposal.

I object to the loss of fields used year round for both soccer and cricket . Both have major participation in their resective sports. Lambton High School also uses these fields. The idea of losing these fields used by so many is ludicrous.
Find a better location to build the basketball stadium, preferably a location where it doesn't impact other sports.

Great for the community, Newcastle's basketball facilities are so far behind other cities.

I support this proposal. The current stadium if falling apart and there are no other viable options.

I object to the project being in the current proposed position (ovals at Broadmeadow). Reasons being:
* takes away high school field space
* already a sports field (not fair for those who use the ovals). This stadium should not be at the expense of those who already use it.
* already not enough parking and traffic management in the area as it is

Great idea of the stadium however wrong place.

I am objecting to the loss of public green space. I enjoy walking my dog on the ovals and will be annoyed when there is a giant building in the middle of them. Can I walk my dog in the basketball stadium?

I am worried about the noise coming from the stadium at all hours given the EIS states the operational times are between 6am-11pm x 7 days a week. I live very close to the ovals and people always park in my street for the football etc. I am worried about the
noise of people bouncing balls, yelling out to each other and making noise as they go to their cars all times of day and night.
I believe this will impact on my mental health and wellbeing and my ability to get to sleep. I am also worried about the amount of traffic this will generate given I have to travel on the same roads to get to and from work. This may result in me being late or having to leave home much earlier.

I have been told the full cost to build this is over $90 million. There are much more important things to spend this money

An updated sporting facility such as this in Newcastle is long overdue. The number of people who would benefit from this stadium extends beyond Newcastle. It would also attract interstate competitions which would benefit the whole region. It needs to be located within the city's sporting precinct of the future.

I wholeheartedly support this application as it is in the greater interest of the community. The sport of basketball is rapidly growing in the Newcastle area and it enjoyed by thousands of children and adults from all walks of life. The current stadium is well past its expiration date and will be knocked down before long, leaving thousands of locals with nowhere to play their favourite sport. The city of Newcastle has countless sports fields for soccer and cricket, but not one quality stadium for the increasing popular game of basketball. As is stands, Newcastle basketball is already turning away hundreds of players a year, as the current facility cannot accommodate the growing need. We need this bigger stadium as soon as possible. Furthermore, it has been pleasing to watch the return and rise of the Newcastle Falcons NBL and WNBL teams. They deserve a state of the art home ground that is on par with the Knights and Jets. The grassroots program on Future Falcons has been a major success and the Falcons Academy and Representative squads offer amazing pathways for up and coming stars. All social competitions are at capacity every single season, the sport growing and we need this space. This project cannot happen soon enough. I am excited for the future of basketball in Newcastle.

Basketball is a popular sport and there is already a demand in Newcastle which cannot be met by existing facilities and many children wishing to play basketball are missing out. A new facility is needed to cater to the sport to encourage active kids interested in participating in team sports. Basketball is a great sport as there is little travel involved and it is never called off due to weather as it is played indoors. This development needs to go ahead.

I would like to object to this proposal for the following reasons:

Loss of green space: I use these ovals daily as my regular exercise routine. On my walks I connect with members of the community. Being exposed to green space benefits my mental health by reducing depression, anxiety and stress. I would be very distressed to lose access to this free public green space.
Traffic and parking issues: This area is congested daily by regular commuters. When there are events on at McDonald Jones stadium (crowd capacity 30,000 – Knights and Jets games and concerts) the area becomes unbearable and I find it difficult to leave my home. People park across my driveway and it becomes very difficult to get in and out of my property. The EIS suggests 22,000 people per week will access the indoor stadium – this is approx. 3000 per day. There are 220 carparks planned – where will everybody else park? I am assuming in the residential streets as they do on “game days”. The traffic report has allowed for an extra 30 cars per hour on Turton road, this doesn’t fit with Newcastle Basketballs prediction of 500 visitors per hour during peak times.
Flooding: The area is a known flood zone. Currently, the 3 ovals act as a giant sponge during times of heavy rain – absorbing a lot of water and keeping it away from residential homes. I am concerned where the water will go when it is covered by a concrete slab and building. I have recently had difficulty obtaining home insurance due to the known flood risks in the area.
Cost of project: I am aware Newcastle basketball received a $25 million grant from the state government. The budget report indicates the cost for the full build is $90 million +. How can approval be given to a project that can not guarantee funding approval? I am concerned the 3 ovals will be destroyed and taken from current users for half a basketball stadium.
Impact on Lambton High: The 1200 students of Lambton high use these 3 ovals daily for PE, sport, lunch and recess breaks and it is their emergency evacuation point. The EIS suggests they can walk down the road to use other local ovals. This is not practical as it will require a risk assessment and permission slip as is considered an excursion. The impact on teachers of moving classes of children a distance will be taxing. The EIS suggests the basketball stadium will have a positive impact for the students of Lambton high as they will have paid access to the building. Lambton high already have 2 covered basketball courts and 2 outdoor ½ courts – they do not need access to more hard surfaces, they need green space and grass

Our son loves basketball more than anything else, it keeps him fit, socialised, and off the video games and off the streets. To take this away from him like hundreds and thousands of other would be detrimental for our youths. This is a growing sport that the current stadium has already outgrown. Support the youth and sport!!

I support the growth of basketball in Newcastle

Both my niece and nephew play club and representative basketball. We we enjoy going to watch them and find it a great outing for our family. The Hunter needs a stadium to support this!

My children both play basketball 4-5 times per week. Out exisiting stadium is beyond repair and to not have a space planned for them beyond the next couple of years is so detrimental to our family

The basketball community needs a new facility.

I want to make an objection to the construction of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre in the currently proposed site at Blakely and Wallarah Ovals in Lambton. I think that although the region would benefit from an upgraded Basketball Stadium which could incorporate other sports, the proposed site is the wrong spot.There are numerous reasons for my opinion however I will focus mainly on three.

Traffic and pedestrian congestion
I currently live less than 5 kms from the proposed site and travel on Turton Road almost daily and I previously was a student at Lambton High School so I know the area well. I am aware of the current traffic congestion during peak hour traffic and can attest to using the nearby minor roads trying to avoid traffic congestion on Turton Road when there is an event such as a music concert, a Knights or the Jets football game at McDonald Jones Stadium or Hockey Centre. The main roads become almost impossible to navigate safely with thousands of cars dropping off people or trying to find parks in addition to lots of pedestrians crossing at intersection which also contributes to the congestion. The proposed 250 car spaces for the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre is inadequate to cater for the numbers expected to use the Centre at anyone time. There is nothing to prevent the overflow if traffic from entering the the narrow residential streets. Perhaps residents parking only can be introduced into the residental streets preventing the influx of cars and pedestrians having an impact of residents being able to use and park in their own streets..

Loss of green space
The construction of the sporting Centre will use existing green space that is already utilized by sporting groups, Lambton High School students and the local community. Lambton is already a densely housed Newcastle suburb where backyards are being used to build granny flats and parkland is valuable. The Broadmeadow Place Strategy which is adjacent to where the oval’s will be built over included the building of 20000 new homes. Understandably these homes will be apartment style or built on small blocks. Taking away green space will disadvantage those home owners and lead to possible estrangement from the natural world. Looking after our green spaces so that they can be used by people has a lot of beneficial health outcomes for the users and the community in general. Lambton high school students can be active in and out of class, the increased population will have green spaces for playing sport, walking, connecting with others which will help with their mental and physical health. As a Landcare volunteer I cannot endorse the the building on any green space that can benefit humanity and wildlife. The larger community will never get those green spaces back. I think it is important to look for a site where the Centre can be built which does not destroy a green space which is already established.


Flooding
As our environment changes storms, flooding and fires are becoming more commonplace. Both Lambton and Broadmeadow are low laying areas whose road system becomes flooded in heavy rain. In 2007 there was a large storm known locally as the Pasha Bulker storm which caused major flooding in the area of the proposed site and surrounding streets. Many people were evacuated as their houses where under at least a foot of water. many of these residents where unable to live in their homes for upward of 6 months while their houses were fixed. Not only was this majorly inconvenient for these people but their insurance premiums all went up considerably. Currently the ovals that occupy the proposed site are like a sponge in heavy rain and contain much of the water, it is proposed that rain tanks under the site will hold the water. But I am concerned about when these tanks are full. There is nowhere the water can quickly disperse therefore any backup will start to flood the local roads and properties. This effects the commuters as well as local residents and school students.

This project is desperately needed to replace the aging and dilapidated facilities currently used by Newcastle Basketball. The location is totally suited for this development with excellent accessability on a major road in the city. It is accessable by private and public transport, buses and the nearby Broadmeadow Train Station. The proposed location would result in far greater utilisation of the site compared to its current usage. Currently the site is unused most days. The propsed indoor sports facility would provide all weather facilities for a number of sports not just limited to basketball. There is also an abundance of similar playing fields immediately adjacent to the proposed site and in the neighboring suburbs, a number of which are currently under utilised.