Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

We would love to see this development move forward. It will be amazing growth for Newcastle, our community & future children.

I live adjacent to the footbridge in Monash road . I am very concerned about a number of items. Where will I park on a day to day basis as I believe that Monash bridge will be an easy alternative for most visitors not wanting to navigate Turton road access to car park . My street will also end up as a ring road for cars coming from the north and west 7 days a week. I also do shift work so how will ambient noise be addressed from people leaving the Venue via the footbridge . I have had no consultation from any official on this development. There are a number of elderly residents around me. How will they be guaranteed vehicle parking from their support services. There are also families with small children and being a local residential street how will the risk of a child being killed with a massive amount of additional traffic in the area be addressed. The roads are narrow and the street lighting is poor. With regard to flooding I read that there will be a possible increase in the risk of flooding to my home. Why should ANY level of flooding be acceptable? The vision for the adjacent hunter park and current stadium includes making the parking on that site redundant. Why is this not being considered in this development application?Could someone from authority please talk to me about my concerns . Regards

Good morning
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the proposed planning development off Turton and Monash Roads. I have a number of reasons to object to the proposal, as follows:
• Loss of green space for the Community
• Traffic congestion
• Entry point off Turton Road – already a busy Road – has consideration been given when Knights and Jets are playing to the volume of traffic
• Only one entry point to the stadium
• Not enough carparking spaces for the potential attendees (2,500)
• Hours of operation – evening games 7 days a week
• Flooding plane – this area absorbs rain / storm water and helps mitigate potential flooding in the streets opposite. This residential area has flooded in the past as it is lower than the other streets around creating a “fish bowl” affect
• Emergency Services access to the houses opposite – narrow driveways and the increase in parking could affect access, potentially life-threatening
• Noise – the increase in noise volume from the Stadium, the people coming and going will all promote a noisy zone which will continue from day into the night
• The cycleway - not sure if this is discontinued in the section of the proposed development. If so, there would be a danger to cyclists having to exit the cycleway and use the road until they can join up again with the cycleway - if it is still in place, then there is a danger when more people in larger groups cross the bridge to the stadium over the cycleway, for impact between cyclist and pedestrians

I believe the following users of the park would be impacted if the planned development was to be approved:
• The Community in general – I have lived here for over 20 years and the land is access and used by walkers, kids enjoying a “kick around”, dog groups, just to name a few – without this area it pushes more people to other parks in surrounding areas, some of which are quite congested and does nothing to promote healthy outdoor activities for all
• Lambton High School – utilise this land every day for sporting, fitness and to encourage students to embrace the outdoors – the small sliver of land left at the back of the proposed development is boggy, wet and unsuitable
• Newcastle Football – utilise this land during pre season and soccer season and to train – I believe they have been given an alternate venue some distance from the area
• Cricket associations – utilised during pre season and cricket season

These are only the associations that I am aware of that utilise this area, I’m sure there are more. I implore review of this proposal and consideration to find another area. We need to save our green space, especially in town centres, and promote healthy living and a stress free community where we have pockets of green to utilise in whatever way we see fit. I am sure that the people directly opposite would suffer looking at a giant concrete structure, dealing with the increased traffic generated and enduring late night activities and noise at the stadium, all of which create anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
Thank you.

I note the assessment says that the facility will be used for other sports. How is this commitment going to be monitored? The number of events proposed by basketball leaves very little time for any other sports. The renders of the facility show three outdoor synthetic soccer pitches but they aren't mentioned in the assessment and there is no commitment to build them in any of the proposed stages. This is misleading. If the fields are to be built, details of when they will be constructed must be included in the assessment, if they aren't going to be built they need to be removed from all drawings.

The proposed area is current parkland and used by a variety of sporting teams from Cricket, soccer, schools. This will displace a lot of kids and adults. The area is a flood zone with drainage issues and the traffic will be horrendous given the narrow streets limited parking and close proximity to McDonald Jones stadium

For a number of reasons I feel this is the right stadium but absolutely the wrong place.
This area is extremely flood prone. I lived across the road from here during the 2007 floods and this area was completely underwater.
The basketball community deserves a new stadium but it shouldn't be to the detriment of other communities such as the football, cricket and school that currently use the location for their respective activities.
When an event is on at the stadium, traffic around this area is a nightmare. A stadium here is only going to add to this chaos.
Find a better location, there are already alternatives being presented.

The proposed development is in the wrong place. Wallarah and Blackley Ovals are used by numerous sporting bodies, Lambton High School and the broader community. Taking away green space for a built development is foolish. There must be a number of more suitable locations that are contaminated or unable to be used for another purpose that would suit a development such as the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre. I would like to question the legitimacy of 'letter of support' from Newcastle Football prepared by one Director. That letter does not represent the broader Newcastle Football community or the member clubs (who were not consulted on the letter). It's appalling that the Newcastle Football letter head was even used.
Newcastle desperately needs an indoor sports facility but this proposal is in the wrong place and will displace a significant number of users. The idea that the Lambton Jaffas relocate to Beresfield is ridiculous. The environmental impacts of hundreds of people driving for 30 minutes to a location outside of Newcastle to train each week is huge. Combine that with game days where people from Newcastle are forced to travel long distances to get to second rate fields in the middle of nowhere. This whole project is divisive. It is setting one sporting code against another. The current Lord Mayor was voted in partially because he does not support the location of the development and I suggest that DPHI consider what the vast majority of the community want.