Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

I object to the LOCATION of the project. I do not object to a new basketball stadium being built.

It concerns me that we will lose valuable green space if the current location being the ovals are used for this project.

I train with Corefit three mornings a week at Lambton High School. We train on the under cover courts that face the oval.

On these mornings, I see that these ovals are used by the community and the local birds. Dog walkers, various birds and others using the ovals for fitness and sport.

I often drive past these ovals to and from work and on weekends and many times these ovals are used by soccer teams and cricketers.

Please find a more suitable location and save our green space for future generations.

I fear that once green space is gone, it is gone forever.

As a past player, a mother and now a grandmother of 13 grandchildren I would like to support this much needed indoor sports centre for Newcastle and the Hunter region. It’s long overdue and the current stadium can no longer accommodate for the youth/participants of this great region. The grant was a major injection for this project to happen and time is dwindling away for our much needed sports facility in our great city. We have a lot of sporting venues to accommodate all sports but no indoor venues. We are overwhelmed by the amount of new players that want to play but we cannot accommodate their needs. The original stadium has been great over the years but now acts as a safety hazard when it rains, the roof leaks and makes it impossible to play on the slippery floors. I have travelled to many regional and metro indoor stadiums and have been very envious of their facilities and wonder why Newcastle (being the next biggest city outside Sydney) does not have an indoor facility for its upcoming youth. If it’s political then all parties should be ashamed as it’s our future for our children that matters. I fully support the Newcastle Basketball Association for this project and hope this happens for our city and our future amateur and budding sporting stars.

Hi,

I understand why the current facility is being removed. It is in a prime development site adjacent to a major transport hub. Removal makes sense, and no one objects to that.

To my knowledge, no one objects to having a Hunter Indoor Sports Centre in an appropriate location.
But our community is enraged at the idea of destroying two of our precious parks to build it in New Lambton (the boundary between Lambton and New Lambton is immediately north of the parks, with the adjacent high school in Lambton). Do not under-estimate how strongly the proposal to build the Centre on Wallarah and Blackley Ovals is opposed.

In the recent Council election, the Labor mayor was booted out. The dominant issue was this development. It was front and centre in the independent mayor's campaign. Note that very carefully.

Our green spaces are very precious. Once gone, we will never get them back.

There are large areas of land that can be used for the Centre. Yes, much of that is at a distance, but in Newcastle, that means a 10-minute drive. That is nothing compared to what most Sydneysiders put up with every day.

The location is in the old natural drainage system that predated Newcastle. Not surprisingly, the stormwater channels follow those natural features, being located in areas of deep alluvial fill. It is equally natural that the filling and levelling of these areas led to a series of parks.
This is particularly the case in Lambton/New Lambton. So much so that a local church was named Parklands. This is one of our most distinctive features.

One side effect is that the areas are low-lying and subject to flooding. A major flood approximately 10 years ago completely covered the proposed site. And in heavy rain, parts of the site are prone to flooding due to poor drainage.

Transport is another major issue, particularly having so many cars directly adjacent to a high school, and in a 40 km/hr zone. This is already a high-traffic area due to the adjacent International Sports Ground and Hockey Centre and we don't want to make things any worse.

A major issue is loss of amenity. You have a prescribed duty to consider this. And the LEC has upheld its importance. This development would have a dramatic effect on loss of amenity to the entire area.

It also robs students of Lambton High School of adjacent playing fields, backing directly onto the school, that they use regularly.

In summary, demolish the existing stadium, and build a new Centre, but do so in an appropriate location. That is most definitely not the proposed location.

Do not under-estimate the wrath that will fall upon the State Government at the next state election if this proposal proceeds. Newcastle has always been Labor, but has been drifting to the centre for some time. I suspect this issue could have promote a historic shift.
That is how strongly this is opposed.

Yours sincerely,
John Loiterton
BE(Hons) FIEAust MCIRCEA CPEng NER(str/mch) RPEQ(str/mch) IntPE(Aus)(str/mch)
Chair ME-005-18
Director
Stanton Engineering Consultants Pty Ltd

Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) on the site of Wallarah and Blackley ovals. Currently the ovals offer green space, free to be utilised and accessed by the community regardless of socio-economic status or preference of playing Basketball. The local football club, Lambton Jaffas as well as Wests Cricket utilise this space regularly, training up to 4 nights a week and 6 games of a weekend. Newcastle City Council had deemed this site under-utilised, however, the maximum amount of time a grass sporting field can be accessed is 25 hours per week. Currently Wallarah and Blackley is being utilised to the allowable limit. This does not take into consideration the use by the High School. Lambton High School has 1200 students/staff who use this space for school sport, but more importantly for an evacuation point. Taking away this space does not consider the time it takes to move students safely across roads and the time is takes out of learning in order to access sporting facilities further afield. It also does not support the safe movement of children with disabilities or in a time of emergency. Currently the Broadmeadow Place Strategy has proposed 20,000 new homes all of which will thrive off having access to this local green space. Taking away Wallarah and Blackley as ovals and replacing it with a user pay facility that only serves the basketball community is elitist. Although the project has been renamed the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre it was an election commitment of the former government to build a new basketball stadium and the current location was announced as Wallarah and Blackley Ovals by Greg Piper in March 2023. It appears a name change does not change the intended purpose of this political commitment. The HISC indicates that there is capacity for 2,000 people to use this site, open each day and extending into the late evening. There is a potential for 2000 more cars on the back streets of surrounding suburbs, of which I live with my family and walk to and from school. Currently traffic is already a burden, add another 2000 cars and people for those wishing to utilise the HISC not only causes much more congestion constantly (not just on days where the Knights are playing or the Hockey), but a safety risk for young families, children and the elderly who enjoy walking around their community for a healthy lifestyle. Further to this, access to this proposed site is one way in-left turn off Turton, and one way out- left turn out onto Turton. For people accessing the HISC, they will enter the site into Google Maps and take the fastest route, which if this is anywhere west of the proposed site takes them through the back streets of surrounding suburbs. For the future of our growing community taking away a green space such as Wallarah and Blackley ovals is short sighted and does not consider the residents and families within the area.

I appreciate this opportunity to lodge my objection to the proposed development at Wallarah and Blackley Ovals, New Lambton. I am very much against the idea of concreting and air conditioning green space areas that are currently used by a number of groups within the community. These ovals are used by the local junior cricket club (Western Suburbs Junior Cricket) and local junior football clubs (Lambton Jaffas Junior FC), Lambton High School students and local residents. Why should these groups all move aside for basketball (and other indoor sports)?
As publisher of a monthly community newspaper distributed throughout the area in question I have heard from many hundreds of people regarding the unsuitability of this site and not one of them has been against the idea of basketball having a new stadium, just not at Wallarah and Blackley Ovals. Let's find a win-win for both basketball and the pre-existing outdoor sports at this location. Newcastle has many disused former industrial sites that could be suitably redeployed as indoor sports facilities. This location has, to my mind, been chosen hastily with no community consultation.

I wish to make this submission as a resident of New Lambton and in my professional capacity as a Life Member of the Planning Institute of Australia.
Upon reviewing the project's accompanying documents, and through my knowledge of the project site and its surroundings, I have the following issues of concern regarding the project:
•The Hunter Park regional sporting and entertainment sub-precinct as proposed under the Draft Broadmeadow Place Strategy is confined to the east of Turton Road and therefore does not intrude into the New Lambton residential and local open space areas to the west of Turton Road. Under the Draft Place Strategy Turton Road is viewed as the appropriate western extent of large scale intensive regional sporting and entertainment facilities, thereby not eroding New Lambton's local open space character and not unreasonably impacting upon its residential amenity.

•Blackley Oval and Wallarah Oval currently provide a range of local sporting options in a public open space setting, such as football and cricket, that will not be available should the Ovals be redeveloped as proposed under the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) proposal. I question the appropriateness of this change: from a publicly accessible local open space area to an indoor regional sporting facility. This is particularly so in a suburban location where public open space is a highly valued resource both for New Lambton’s residents and nearby local schools.

• Vehicles wishing to enter the proposed HISC carpark when travelling from the north will tend to use the Turton Road/Young Road intersection before travelling along Womboin Road, Wallarah Road and Monash Road to enable the left turn from Turton Road into the proposed carpark. Likewise, exiting vehicular traffic from the proposed carpark wishing to travel south will tend to use various residential streets in New Lambton in order to eventually join Bridges Road or Lambton Road. Therefore consideration should be given to the likely amenity impacts of these increased traffic movements on New Lambton’s residential areas.

• The risk of flash flooding of the proposed carpark during heavy rainfall should be further examined given the proposal to deepen the carpark area and the proposed HISC building distributing flood flows through the site and concentrating them in the carpark. Floodwater storage displacement created by the proposed building should also be further examined as, in my view, this issue is not clearly addressed in the accompanying Flood Risk Impact Assessment report.

• The bulk and scale of the proposed HISC building is substantial within its
New Lambton open space and predominantly low scale residential setting.
The opportunity exists to visually soften the appearance of the building when
viewed from the west and south-west by more substantial tree planting in the
area between the western elevation of the building and Arthur Edden Oval. To
achieve this, the two outdoor half courts should be deleted and the open
space area to the north given over to tree planting.

• It is questionable whether the proposed 276m2 Allied Health Hub to be
located within the south-eastern portion of the building is permissible in the
RE1 Public Recreation Zone applying to the site. It is unlikely to be correctly
characterised as a “community facility”, which is permissible with consent in
the RE1 zone, and may not be regarded as ancillary to “recreation facilities”,
as defined. This matter has not been addressed in the EIS.

I am writing on behalf of the New Lambton Public School Parents and Citizen Association. At our recent General Meeting, a motion was carried to express our objection to the Proposed Basketball Stadium at Wallarah and Blackley Ovals.

New Lambton Public School is one of the Primary Schools that feeds into Lambton High School. At present and for many years, Lambton High School use the ovals daily for active play during recess and lunch, PDHPE and sporting events. This arrangement has worked well for many years and serves to provide the green space essential for the mental health and well being of students that they will not otherwise receive due to the limited ground space at Lambton High School. Due to the lack of green space at New Lambton Public School, they also need to frequently use various ovals around Lambton and New Lambton. Whilst they do not generally use the ovals under current threat, the displacement of Lambton High School will leave New Lambton Public School and other schools in the area increasingly competing for the use of the same more limited number of ovals. And so our children will be affected for access to green space in both primary and high school.

Every year, students from our school (and other public schools) undertake a survey entitled "Tell them from me". And consistently, a key request expressed repeatedly is for access to green space. The kids want grass to play on. They would access it daily if that were possible. Many of our students have expressed their excitement that once they attend Lambton High, they would finally have access to green space. That this is under threat, is devastating to them. Lambton High School already has indoor courts - this project offers no value proposition to them.

I would propose that this development be undertaken at an alternative location, preferably at a now disused industrial or business site, rather than taking away key green space for the New Lambton and Lambton school communities. The ovals already have a purpose and are well utilised. The proposed site seems to be only attractive in that it is located not too far from the old stadium but building this facility will greatly impact the local community without any real benefit to us.

I agree with the provision of a new basketball stadium however to relinquish open parkland for the use of one organisation is wrong.
There is a huge residential growth in the Newcastle area with high rise developments or high density housing in every suburb but there is no extra open space being provided. It is wonderful to have an inclusive open public area for the social use of everyone. Wallarah and Blackley Ovals are currently used by the Local schools as well as sporting organisations on weekends but is free to all most time. We must preserve our open green spaces and look to increase parklands where possible.
To limit this parkland to one sporting organisation and associate paved parking is an environmental vandalism.
Is it possible to utilize the ex BHP site at Mayfield West or the ex Gas Works at Hamilton North?
In conclusion I strongly oppose the development of a basketball stadium on Blackley/Wallarah Ovals.

I am concerned about the traffic issue with the proposed entry to the Basketball Stadium being between two sets of traffic lights on Turton Road that are currently not far from each other - one at Young Road and a pedestrian set between Monash and Young Roads. There is access to McDonald Jones Stadium between these lights as well. Currently it can be difficult to turn right from Monash Road onto Turton Road and travelling from Rex Avenue to go right on Turton Road requires turning left on Turton and then a U turn being made at the entrance to McDonald Jones stadium, which can be dangerous when vehicles are leaving the stadium.
The parking situation is also a concern as the streets around the proposed site are very narrow and with football, concerts and hockey traffic to contend with, parking is often at a premium. At a meeting regarding the proposed development, we were informed that this new stadium expects to be operating most evenings, so our local streets will become clogged with stadium users.
The loss of green space for the Lambton High students, local sporting groups and local residents would be devastating. These parks/ovals are well patronised. Homes in the surrounding areas have very little back yard space and as such, these areas serve an important part of the local environment. With the proposed housing development in nearby Broadmeadow, green spaces will be further diminished. It is well accepted that green space has a positive impact on physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Another concern is flooding. The surrounding streets were inundated in the storm of 2007 and the proposed development could result in these events occurring more often.

I strongly object to the location of this project. I support Newcastle Basketball getting a new stadium somewhere but this is not the right location. Key reasons it is not the right location are provided below:
1. Traffic and parking: Traffic in suburban surrounding streets is already a nightmare, when Knights or Jets games are on and when Hockey games are on, especially so when all are being used. Residents driveways already get parked across, drivers get fined every week for parking in illegal locations. It seems non-sensical to add to this traffic nightmare with another huge development.
2. Loss of green space: These ovals are of vital importance to the local community for soccer, cricket, the adjoining high school and the surrounding community. They are part of the green lungs of the area that runs all the way from Lambton village to the stadium. Once green space is lost it cannot be replaced. Green space is also very important due to the increasing density of development in the surrounding suburbs. Please don't take our green space away.
3. Location: While it is recognised that the NSW Government wants to develop for high rise development the current basketball stadium, this does not mean that the community should lose by having green space developed. The new basketball facilities should be located either in the new Hunter Park precinct across the road which contains abundant land for this purpose that is already surfaced or concreted. Or another location such as Glendale etc.
4. Lambton High School: Currently the area is used frequently by the high school students as sporting and breakout / activity areas. Once lost this cannot be replaced.
5. Lack of consultation: The announcement for the site was made without consultation with the community and is seen as a foregone conclusion. This approach is disrespectful to the community and local residents. Hardly any consultation with local residents has still occurred!
6. Flooding: No matter how the experts justify that this project can be located in this location, it seems to make no sense to add further hardstand area to and area which currently is a slow soak when lots of rain occurs, gradually letting the water infiltrate the soil rather than going straight into the main open drains that rise quickly during rain events to the top, and overspill during flooding events. The centre of a floodplain is not an appropriate location for something of the proposed scale. THe consultant seems to have focussed on on-site flooding but what about the surrounding residents and drains?
7. Residents: Adjoining residents were not properly consulted and some of the adjoining townhouses will have a monolith erected next to them instead of looking onto greenspace that has and should have always been permanent open green space.

While I support the need for a new Basketball Stadium, I object to the development as proposed as it is an inappropriate use of current limited green space and the limited sporting/recreational resources in the Newcastle LGA. The more detailed grounds for my objection, together with some comments on the development assessment, are provided in the attached document (Objection-Attachment.pdf).

Outlined below are reasons that I believe this Indoor Sports Centre is not a "good fit" for the location.

Traffic congestion, parking and pedestrian safety:
I'm a local resident who only moved into the area 3 months ago from a different Newcastle location and already can see big differences in traffic and parking due to being close to existing sporting venues.
Traffic is already busy during the hours of 4-7pm due to local traffic coming home from work, and current sporting groups training in the area. Then when the hockey field/stadium/highschool/industrial facilities are in use traffic greatly increases. This HISC will exacerbate what is already traffic chaos during events at the stadium (Knights and Jets games, concerts etc.), the high school and hockey fields, causing considerable disruption to local residents.
Parking is already difficult in surrounding narrow streets just with cars belonging to residents, businesses and the local high school. I already have trouble finding a spot out the front of home during a normal week. This is already far worse during events at the stadium with parking stretching to into nearby suburbs, Wests Leagues Club carparks and surrounding streets, which significantly impacts residents and local businesses. I have frequently seen cars parked across people’s driveways, on corners, in no parking areas during these events, which makes it difficult to be on the road during these times and quite unsafe for pedestrians. This will only be made worse by adding an additional 2500 capacity stadium with only 250 car spaces allocated.

Loss of green space:
My children currently play soccer, junior cricket and one attends Lambton High School, and they utilise these fields regularly, even just going down and kicking the ball after school. The loss of green space is not proposed to be replaced, yet the local surrounding suburbs (Broadmeadow and Adamstown) are poised to have 60,000 new homes in future.
Lambton High School will lose access to its green space that is currently leases from council. This is needed to fulfill their curriculum of sports and to support their health and wellbeing. While the stadium has indicated it would provide students with access to its courts, the school already has courts, but needs green space to play other sports like soccer, football, oztag, AFL, cricket, t-ball etc. While there is also mentioned they could use other green spaces, these are further away and would require supervision of additional teachers as they would need to cross roads. Students also use this green space for lunch and recreational time, which supports their health and wellbeing. It is also unclear what will happen to the evacuation procedures as this is currently the emergency evacuation point. Alternative locations would require crossing roads, which is not ideal for 1200 students in an emergency.
My children will also lose access to green space for cricket and soccer, moving them further away to other venues that are already heavily utilised.

Noise and disturbance:
One of my children attendings Lambton High and he is concerned about the noise impacts during construction, and the impact it will have on their learning and exams, especially HSC exams. We are concerned about having to navigate the streets while walking to and from school, with additional construction traffic, road closures etc. while the stadium is being constructed. I'm also wondering where the construction workers are going to park!

Funding shortfall:
It is understood they have a $60 million funding shortfall (Almos 70% short of the $90 million required). It is unclear what will happen if this funding shortfall cannot be, which is highly likely in our current fiscally constrained budget environment. The proposal says that stage 2 is dependent on funding allowances. There is a risk that, if approved, you will allow the removal of valuable green space, in place of only part a stadium and/or corners will be cut to deal with this.

Flooding impacts:
Flooding impact assessment doesn’t adequately consider the flood impacts. For example, the local canal goes from empty to full very quick (I’ve experienced it doing this after just short thunderstorms). Currently the fields provide flood and stormwater retention for considerable time, keeping these floodwaters away from homes and local streets. The report indicates the only mitigation measures proposed are rainwater tanks. There is no way these could store the same amount of water as the existing fields.
The report also says the carpark might flood, so if people are worried, to park in residential streets instead – further adding the too traffic mayhem in local narrow streets that already can’t fit two cars side by side when cars are parked.

Inadequate community engagement:
There has been no adequate community engagement. For instance, over 80% of Lambton High School students’ families were opposed to the development, but we have not been consulted with as part of targeted consultation. Likewise, the local residents in surround streets that I know in Duke St, Rex Ave and Durham Rd have not been consulted but will 100% be impacted by parking loss and traffic in their streets.

Inadequate social impact assessment:
The SEIA for the project does not sufficiently address the effect that displacing Western Suburbs Junior Cricket Club. It’s one of the fastest growing junior clubs for Newcastle. Losing ground will not only limit current capacity but hinder the ability to grow the sport.

Misclassification of the ground utilisation:
The report misclassifies Wallarah and Blackley ovals as underutilised. This is based on flawed analysis from the City of Newcastle’s Sporting Strategy (2020), which measure usage only for winter sports, rather than peak summer usage. Cricket teams use these fields daily during spring and summer, and loss of this green space will add pressure to other facilities, and insufficient replacement grounds (current proposals are inferior in quality and proximity).

Basketball is a great sport that can be run all year round and can involve all age groups, providing a great community facility for this to be run well should be a priority for our city. The number of people involved in this sport each week should speak for itself. Improved facilities will help ensure community, health and finances are being brought into our city.
The current facilities are very run down and inadequate.
We lost a player for a whole season due to injury in the poorly marked and unmaintained hole in the carpark on the pedestrian crossing outside the front door.
The facilities lack suitable air ventilation and air flow for such a hot sport that runs all year round.
The basketballs bounce inconsistently due to the poor quality of the floor boards.

We have heard talk of new facilities being built, which has kept us coming to the old facilities in anticipation of the new. It would be great to see this project begin.

I am providing a word document with details for objecting to this major project.

Dear Government Representative,
I OBJECT TO THIS PROJECT FOR THE REASONS BELOW.
The taking away of sporting facility from one group of citizens who are long-term users and giving it to another.
The loss of green space which is used for Football (Soccer), Cricket, Recreation and has a well-used bike and walking path beside it.
Lambton High which is already overcrowded would lose the adjacent oval, space that it cannot afford to lose. Lambton High use the oval on a daily basis.

High traffic every day in an already high traffic area with very little parking. The local streets are already overcrowded with cars as many homes have two or more cars which can’t fit onto the properties.

A low-lying area that will flood during heavy rain. Sealing the area with tar and cement will cause fast run off and accelerate local flooding.
Regards Sandra Graham.

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed Hunter Indoor Sports Stadium, next to Lambton High School, Lambton NSW 2299. I object to this development on the Wallarah and Blackley Ovals, Lambton NSW 2299, having serious concerns of its impact on Lambton High School Students and Staff, and the Lambton residential community.

I object to the proposal for the following reasons:
1. The direct impact on the PDHPE curriculum at Lambton High School
• Sport and PDHPE development for approximately 1,200 students (LHS is already at full capacity) will be directly impacted by the loss of these playing ovals. All Years 7 – 12 utilise these ovals for half of all practical PDHPE lessons per week.
• A portion of the oval which may remain for use is insufficient in size, has insufficient drainage and is not level and large enough to play cricket, soccer, AFL etc.
• Taking PDHPE to other ovals in the area is not time effective, and requires crossing of roads, additional risk planning, and additional staff to take students off school grounds (staffing levels are already stretched). Consequently, lesson times will be shortened, and safety risks increased.
• There will be a direct reduction in the green space available to students each lunch and recess break every school day.
• Newcastle Basketball has not communicated to the school if they can use the Centre for part of it’s PDHPE curriculum and if so the cost involved and whether they would cater to the Lambton High School Timetable. There is no transparency on this matter.
• There could be a monetary cost impact on Lambton High School Funds, and its Parents / Carers, with increased fees should the Centre be made available for PDHPE curriculum use to compensate the destruction of the ovals.


2. Health and Safety of Lambton High School Students and Staff and the Lambton community.
• During the long construction phase of the Basketball Stadium, there would be increased dust and noise which would impact both students and staff at Lambton High School. This will impact all Departments and Faculties, by inhibiting learning and disrupting exams.
• This proposed development is significant in size, thus directly impacts the Lambton residents.
• Lambton High School emergency and evacuation points are directly affected should there be development on the adjacent Wallarah and Blackley Ovals.
• As a consequence of the Stadium development, there would be increased traffic in an already congested area, impacting the safety of students and staff.

3. Traffic and Congestion
• The Basketball Stadium’s ultimate scope is to seat 2,400 spectators (12 courts), however the proposed car parking for that facility appears insufficient for this crowd projection.
• There would be increased parking & traffic issues in an already constrained area, with not only residential, but also Lambton High School effected. This will especially be of concern when all venues in that planned precinct are operating simultaneously, which includes the existing Newcastle McDonald Jones Stadium & Newcastle International Hockey Centre.


4. Environment and Community
• The Basketball Stadium proposed at that site would result in increase drainage and flooding issues in an already vulnerable area.
• In addition to the direct impact on our Lambton High School students and staff, there will be direct loss of amenities for Soccer and Cricket clubs.
• The proposed Basketball Stadium is estimated to be as high as 6 stories, which directly impacts the surrounding environment, including Lambton High School and neighbouring residents.

Thanking You,
Jacqui

While, I don’t disagree it seems a new basketball facility is needed, especially given the traffic congestion that surrounds the existing facility during the afternoon and early evenings, I do not think this is not the right location for it, due to the concerns raised below.
Traffic congestion, parking and pedestrian safety
My concern as a local resident is around the increase of traffic in what is an already very busy location especially during the peak period the stadium would use it between 4 and 7pm, due to local traffic, training by other sports around the location and movement of school children. In addition, this is likely to exacerbate what is already traffic chaos during events at the stadium (Knights and Jets games, concerts etc.), the high school and hockey fields, causing considerable disruption to local residents.
Parking is already difficult in surrounding narrow streets just with cars belonging to residents, businesses and the local high school. I already have difficulty parking at my friends’ houses in these surrounding streets where there are no events on. This is already far worse during events at the stadium with parking stretching to into nearby suburbs, Wests Leagues Club carparks and surrounding streets, which significantly impacts residents and local businesses. I have frequently seen cars parked across people’s driveways, on corners, in no parking areas during these events, which makes it difficult to be on the road during these times and quite unsafe for pedestrians. This will only be made worse by adding an additional 2500 capacity stadium with only 250 car spaces allocated.
Loss of green space
My children currently play soccer, junior cricket and attend Lambton High School, and utilise these fields regularly. The loss of green space is not proposed to be replaced, yet the local surrounding suburbs (Broadmeadow and Adamstown) are poised to have 60,000 new homes in future.
Lambton High School will lose access to its green space that is currently leases from council. This is needed to fulfill their curriculum of sports and to support their health and wellbeing. While the stadium has indicated it would provide students with access to its courts, the school already has courts, but needs green space to play other sports like soccer, football, oztag, AFL, cricket, t-ball etc. While there is also mentioned they could use other green spaces, these are further away and would require supervision of additional teachers as they would need to cross roads. Students also use this green space for lunch and recreational time, which supports their health and wellbeing. It is also unclear what will happen to the evacuation procedures as this is currently the emergency evacuation point. Alternative locations would require crossing roads, which is not ideal for 1200 students in an emergency.
My children will also lose access to green space for cricket and soccer, moving them further away to other venues that are already heavily utilised.
Noise and disturbance
My children have expressed concern about noise impacts during construction, and the impact this may have on their learning and exams, especially HSC exams. They are also concerned about having to navigate the streets while walking to and from school, with additional construction traffic, road closures etc. while the stadium is being constructed.
Funding shortfall
It is understood they have a $60 million funding shortfall (Almos 70% short of the $90 million required). It is unclear what will happen if this funding shortfall cannot be, which is highly likely in our current fiscally constrained budget environment. The proposal says that stage 2 is dependent on funding allowances. There is a risk that, if approved, you will allow the removal of valuable green space, in place of only part a stadium and/or corners will be cut to deal with this.
Flooding impacts
Flooding impact assessment doesn’t adequately consider the flood impacts. For example, the local canal goes from empty to full very quick (I’ve experienced it doing this after just short thunderstorms). Currently the fields provide flood and stormwater retention for considerable time, keeping these floodwaters away from homes and local streets. The report indicates the only mitigation measures proposed are rainwater tanks. There is no way these could store the same amount of water as the existing fields.
The report also says the carpark might flood, so if people are worried, to park in residential streets instead – further adding the to traffic mayhem in local narrow streets that already can’t fit two cars side by side when cars are parked.
Inadequate community engagement
There has no been adequate community engagement. For instance, over 80% of Lambton High School students’ families were opposed to the development, but we have not been consulted with as part of targeted consultation. Likewise, the local residents in surround streets that I know in Duke St, Rex Ave and Durham Rd have not been consulted but will 100% be impacted by parking loss and traffic in their streets.
Inadequate social impact assessment
The SEIA for the project does not sufficiently address the effect that displacing Western Suburbs Junior Cricket Club. It’s one of the fastest growing junior clubs for Newcastle. Losing ground will not only limit current capacity but hinder the ability to grow the sport.
Misclassification of the ground utilisation
The report misclassifies Wallarah and Blackley ovals as underutilised. This is based on flawed analysis from the City of Newcastle’s Sporting Strategy (2020), which measure usage only for winter sports, rather than peak summer usage. Cricket teams use these fields daily during spring and summer, and loss of this green space will add pressure to other facilities, and insufficient replacement grounds (current proposals are inferior in quality and proximity).

This project will add to an already major traffic problem area. In peak hours (before school and after school hours) the traffic is beyond very heavy.
This project will increase potential car accidents and impact the safety of pedestrians utilizing the existing facilities.
The "Green Space Area" that this project is earmarked for, is a massive environmently friendly area - to even consider removing this would be utter madness.
This project needs to find a different location which will not increase the traffic in this area

I object to the proposed development of a Basketball Stadium, the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) on the site of Wallarah and Blackley ovals. Currently the ovals offer green space, free to be utilised and accessed by the community regardless of socio-economic status or preference of playing Basketball. The local football club, Lambton Jaffas as well as Wests Cricket utilise this space regularly, training up to 4 nights a week and 6 games of a weekend. Newcastle City Council had deemed this site under-utilised, however, the maximum amount of time a grass sporting field can be accessed is 25 hours per week. Currently Wallarah and Blackley is being utilised to the allowable limit. This does not take into consideration the use by the High School. Lambton High School has 1200 students/staff who use this space for school sport, but more importantly for an evacuation point. Taking away this space does not consider the time it takes to move students safely across roads and the time is takes out of learning in order to access sporting facilities further afield. It also does not support the safe movement of children with disabilities or in a time of emergency. Currently the Broadmeadow Place Strategy has proposed 20,000 new homes all of which will thrive off having access to this local green space. Taking away Wallarah and Blackley as ovals and replacing it with a user pay facility that only serves the basketball community is elitist. Although the project has been renamed the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre it was an election commitment of the former government to build a new basketball stadium and the current location was announced as Wallarah and Blackley Ovals by Greg Piper in March 2023. It appears a name change does not change the intended purpose of this political commitment. The HISC indicates that there is capacity for 2,000 people to use this site, open each day and extending into the late evening. There is a potential for 2000 more cars on the back streets of surrounding suburbs, of which I live with my family and walk to and from school. Currently traffic is already a burden, add another 2000 cars and people for those wishing to utilise the HISC not only causes much more congestion constantly (not just on days where the Knights are playing or the Hockey), but a safety risk for young families, children and the elderly who enjoy walking around their community for a healthy lifestyle. Further to this, access to this proposed site is one way in-left turn off Turton, and one way out- left turn out onto Turton. For people accessing the HISC, they will enter the site into Google Maps and take the fastest route, which if this is anywhere west of the proposed site takes them through the back streets of surrounding suburbs. For the future of our growing community taking away a green space such as Wallarah and Blackley ovals is short sighted and does not consider the residents and families within the area and the impact of taking away access to a healthy lifestyle using green space.

Dear Major Projects committee,

I am writing to formally express my objection to the proposal to build a new indoor basketball centre on the existing sports fields at New Lambton/Lambton. While I appreciate the initiative to expand our community’s recreational facilities, I believe that repurposing these sports fields would have several negative impacts that outweigh the potential benefits of the proposed basketball centre.

1. Loss of Valuable Green Space
The sports fields provide a vital green space for the community, offering a natural environment for various outdoor activities. This space promotes physical activity, relaxation, and social gatherings in an open-air setting, which is essential for community well-being. Replacing this space with an indoor facility would reduce our access to outdoor recreational areas and disrupt the balance of our local environment.

2. Impact on Diverse Recreational Opportunities
The existing fields serve multiple sports and attract a wide range of users, including soccer, rugby, and cricket. Converting them into a single-purpose indoor centre would narrow the recreational options available to residents and potentially exclude those who benefit most from the open fields. We should prioritise facilities that cater to a diverse range of activities rather than concentrating resources into a single-sport centre. It is currently used by Lambton High on a daily basis for their students.

3. Potential Noise, Traffic, and Environmental Concerns
An indoor basketball centre would likely bring increased traffic, parking demands, and noise to the surrounding area, which could disrupt nearby residential communities. Additionally, the construction process itself poses environmental risks, such as air and noise pollution, which would negatively affect local wildlife and residents who rely on the fields for quiet outdoor enjoyment.

4. Alternative Locations and Solutions
Instead of repurposing our current sports fields, I urge the council to consider alternative locations for the basketball centre on other land that is Crown owned. Repurposing underused indoor spaces, renovating vacant lots, or building on land that does not impact existing recreational areas would be better options. Furthermore, partnerships with local schools or existing sports facilities could allow the basketball centre to be built without compromising our community’s existing resources.

5. Preserving Our Community Identity
The sports fields are more than just physical spaces; they are a part of our community’s identity. They serve as gathering spots for families, local sports leagues, and children, fostering a sense of unity and pride in our neighborhood. Building over them would disrupt this cherished aspect of our community and take away from future generations who deserve the same access to outdoor sports and recreation.

In summary, while I support expanding basketball opportunities within our community, I believe that repurposing our existing sports fields is not the most beneficial approach. I urge the council to consider alternative solutions that do not come at the cost of our valuable green spaces and community recreational facilities.

Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to the council’s thoughtful deliberation on this matter.

Sincerely