Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC)

Supportive

This would be both financially and socially beneficial to the community in the local and more broader sector

N/a

I write in strong support of the proposed Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC). This modern, multi-court indoor facility will deliver enormous benefits to Newcastle, the Hunter region and surrounding communities. Below I set out the key reasons why this project should be approved and supported, along with some suggested considerations to ensure it succeeds fully.

Addressing Infrastructure Shortfall & Replacing Aging Facilities:

Existing indoor sports infrastructure in the Hunter region is inadequate. The current Newcastle Basketball Stadium, among others, is over 50 years old, suffers issues like water damage, leaks, and limited flexibility for different sports.

HISC will provide 12 modern indoor courts, with show court seating, change rooms, allied health space, gym / movement studio and other amenities. This addresses the demand for high-quality, reliable facilities.

Health, Wellbeing & Community Benefits:

Increased capacity for sport and active recreation supports physical health (e.g. reducing obesity, improving cardiovascular health) and mental health (reducing stress, community inclusion). Sport NSW studies have demonstrated that community sport and recreation facilities contribute to healthier lifestyles, reduced social isolation, and greater wellbeing.

The facility is designed to be inclusive and accessible for people of all ages and abilities. This ensures equitable access for disabled people, seniors, young people, and diverse cultural communities.

Supporting Growth, Participation & Athlete Development:

With population growth and increasing popularity of indoor sports (basketball, netball, volleyball, futsal, badminton, pickleball etc.), demand is rising. Existing supply cannot meet that demand, constraining participation, competition, training, and high performance development.

Having a modern facility encourages local talent development and may reduce barriers to reaching state or national level, by giving athletes better training and playing conditions.

Economic & Social Return on Investment
During construction, HISC will generate jobs (both direct and indirect). Once operational, the Centre will attract tournaments, regional events, and visitors who contribute to local businesses (hospitality, accommodation, retail).

Community sports facilities tend to increase local property values, community pride, and social capital. They also reduce long-term health costs by promoting preventive health via active lifestyles.

Alignment with Strategic Goals & Policy:
The project aligns with the NSW Government’s policy goals for sport and active recreation: increasing participation, providing infrastructure, promoting inclusive access, and improving health and social cohesion.

It supports regional planning goals, urban renewal (e.g. via Hunter Park Precinct, Broadmeadow Place Strategy), and ensures that infrastructure grows with population and demand.

For all these reasons, health, social, economic, strategic, the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre represents a smart investment for the NSW Government. It responds to long-standing infrastructure gaps, promises high community usage, supports growth and inclusivity, and leverages policy goals in sport, health and urban development.

I encourage the Department to approve the project without undue delay, subject to detailed consideration of traffic, environment and community access issues. The people of Newcastle and the Hunter region stand to gain greatly from this centre.

Thank you for the opportunity to make this submission.

Kind regards
Adam MacDonald

This project is essential in providing a facility for Newcastle residents to stay active, be part of a community and engage in indoor sports.
Basketball in particular has a large membership with the demand for indoor court space exceeding the facilities available.
It would be an asset to the region.

This needs to get delivered for the Hunter region. With the increase in wet weather over the years there is a lack of indoor facilities to host sporting facilities for children in the area. Regional NSW is being left behind. Tamworth have better indoor facilities then the 2nd largest city in NsW. We need facilities to host events and grow local talent. This needs to progress.

The current state of the Broadmeadow Stadium is beyond embarrassing. Newcastle needs to have a state level facility to match the significance of this city. The fact that Newcastle is now missing out on hosting state level representative events because of the stadium impacts the local economy as well. While this stadium is primarily a basketball facility it will also serve as an elite level indoor stadium for many sports too.

Very supportive of this project

Critically needed facility for youth and programs across many sports that serve the Hunter region and beyond.

Newcastle needs this … we deserve this…

With over 6000 members about to be homeless, we need this new home ASAP.

The is going to bring in significant revenue for local business when Newcastle becomes the venue of choice for State and National events.

The location is central and makes sense to combine into a sporting hub.

Newcastle is in dire need of a new Basketball Stadium.
The current facilities are an embarrassment.

This much needed facility should be fully funded and built on this rarely used piece of land. For too long, the members of Newcastle Basketball and users of the stadium have maintained an ageing building with little or no government support.

The prevailing belief in the community is that it is easier for families to access expensive concert tickets than to get their child into a basketball team. No other local sports face these challenges.

It is time that this city has an indoor sports facility that brings us into line with other sports and with associations in the metro area.

Amazing plans. Much needed and well overdue.

I support the proposed Indoor Sports Centre. Newcastle and the Hunter are in dire need of a sports centre to cater for a growing basketball community as well as a range of other sports. It would support the economy, youth development and promote healthy lifestyles.

I strongly object to the proposed development.
1/. Traffic.
Traffic from the proposed Hunter Indoor Sports Stadium in this location will severely impact local residents & residents of surrounding suburb, Lambton & New Lambton in particular. This extra load of traffic will occur every day of the week from early morning to late night.
Even without the stadium being built traffic is extremely busy & congestion occurs around the Mc Donald Jones Stadium when league & other special events are on, some roads are closed off for through traffic & there is a scramble for parking anywhere & everywhere in the suburb. People parking their cars earlier in the day & being picked up once parked, to secure a park.

2/. Green space to absorb water.
In the past local residents fought to preserve green space areas such as Lambton Park & Blackbutt Reserve. Now Wallarah & Blackley ovals are under threat.
Green spaces are a valuable sponge in this time of climate change when heavy continuous rain events are expected to occur more frequently in the coming years.
I remember vividly the frightening flooding that poured through our garage during the Pasha Bulker storm. I also remember people being evacuated from their homes in the vicinity of Turton Rd & surrounding neighbourhood streets.

3/. Green space & healthy lives.
The local high school (1200 students) & local sporting teams use Wallarah & Blackley ovals for sport & recreation.
School children need green space to burn off energy & frustration during sport & playtime.
Also these ovals are an important school evacuation point in case of an emergency.
Local residents walk, talk, ride bikes & picnic in the 2 ovals. Birds are often spotted among the bushes & trees in the shady areas.
We need to keep Wallarah & Blackley ovals in our suburban setting.
Thank you, Dianne Orlandi.

We are in desperate need of a new basketball/indoor sports stadium. Basketball is unable to grow due to the current, outdated stadium. This is a much needed opportunity to grow the game in this area & have more players involved in this sport. Other sports have larger numbers as a result of having an abundance of playing surfaces available to them! When there is only 1 basketball stadium with currently 6 courts & not all regulation size at that there is opportunity for the number of players to increase if a new bigger stadium is built.
This project is well overdue.

The current basketball/indoor sports stadium at Broadmeadow is outdated, rundown & can’t cope with current player demand. Players are turned away as a result of the stadium not having enough courts. Newcastle is the best city to live in, however the current stadium is downright embarrassing. We need this new indoor sports venue to improve basketball & other sports that will be able to make use of this space. This benefits the entire community. Please support this project.

Please see attached

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