This is very much needed for the basketball community.

I am a local resident in the surrounding streets of the proposed project and I strongly object to the project on multiple grounds as per below.

- Major residential traffic chaos. The stadium is to be built amongst residential houses which are already beyond full many weeks of the year due to McDonald Jones Stadium being located across the road. Adding in another stadium and courts, resulting in an even high increase of road traffic and foot traffic raises many concerns. The safety of local residents, even more cars continually circling the streets for parking in streets that are jam packed with cars already. The area has many young families posing a safety risk to young children especially.

- Flood risk. The area is a known major flood zone with local residents on alert whenever there is a major downpour. Taking away green space which serves as significant drainage is of major concern.

- Emergency risk. Surrounding streets are very narrow streets. When streets are full with cars parked either side of the road. During McDonald Jones Stadium events, I highly doubt a fire truck would be able to drive through the narrow surrounding streets or turn into streets to attend to an emergency during these events. Adding in the stadium and courts means significant increase of time periods where emergency response capabilities are at risk.

- Built next to Lambton High School: The fields which are to be taken away are used by Lambton High School very frequently. Taking away the fields leaves the school with no green space.

Project build cost: The project is to cost $90 million. Basketball only have approx $30 million for the project in funding, where will the remaining $60 million come from? A project which poses many risks and doubts has the high probability once started to be left incomplete. A project which could possibly be left 1/3 complete.

The project is opposed by the current Lord Mayor and many councillors. The site is not a suitable spot for the project.

We need to protect our green spaces . Too much traffic and the basketball stadium will impact on Lambton high school . We need another location for a much needed basketball stadium

The project will take valued green space currently used by the community.
New Lampton high school incorporate the ground in it’s perimeter for sport and breaks. The area was gazetted for the school’s use due to the limited footprint of the school.
Local sports teams home grounds in cricket , soccer and union have been offered alternative grounds Ks away from the players residences. Some of these players are juniors and the proposed options would eliminate their opportunity to train and play.
The area has a history of flooding which is now affecting residential insurance, covering the ground will increase the risk of flooding.
Parking for the football stadium currently overwhelms the local streets and traffic congestion will be very problematic and dangerous.
The costing of close to $90Million is unrealistic for the organisation to raise and will leave the project uncompleted if commenced. Initially the cost mentioned was $25M
The high handed manner the proposal has been put to the community and then denied consultation was offensive and contributed to the loss of the Mayor Nelmes position in the recent election. Labour has had support in this district and many of the residents will continue to object if this project is imposed on them.
The area is shared by an active community and is constantly in use. I object to locals being pushed off this much needed green space in a built up area.

I am have been a playing or Scorebench official most of my life - for at least 38 years Newcastle Basketball Stadium has almost been my second home. In all that time, it has always had issues with roof leaks. It’s time for the Hunter to have its own new stadium where WNBL games can be held. A state of the art purpose built facility that helps our athletes strive for excellence in a facility they can be proud of…for this generation and many more to come.

The playing fields are used by multiple sporting organisations, Lambton High School as well as passive recreation space. The area is also low lying and subject to flooding with the adjoining road very busy especially when events are on at the nearby stadium. The green space should not be sacrificed for this proposed development. Surely there could be an alternate location that didn’t involve using the precious little green space in the area. Perhaps the nearby Newcastle Council depot or Showgrounds space could be used.

This stadium is so overdue and so needed, especially for the young people of Newcastle.

All 3 of my son’s started their basketball journeys at Newcastle and were so lucky to be able to get into teams early as so many others miss out.

I’ve seen the considerable benefit to my own children and so many others from being able to play social and representative basketball.

I just wished we had a proper, larger stadium so more children could enjoy the health and social benefits of basketball.

My sons all played soccer for almost 10 years (they all started as toddlers) and while I completely understand the resistance from the soccer clubs, I think it is so unfortunate. Those fields are so poorly drained they are often unusable and while soccer is also a great sport (as it cricket, albeit a ‘dying’ sport), the reality is that space is scare and the utility per square metre of the area being used for basketball and other high-density indoor sports such as pickleball is considerably higher per hour, especially as they can be played during the day for various age groups.

Of course we all wish there was unlimited land and money, but I truly believe the best use of that space is for an indoor sports.

Please invest in the tens of thousands of children who will learn and grow in that facility over the next generation.

Wrong location, find some where else, moving current sporting teams at this location to another location is ludicrous. Also just going to create a major traffic issues.

I have a lot of concerns about this project and the chosen location.
Removal of multi-use sports ground/ovals for a single purpose facility.
Currently the ovals are used by multiple sports groups and the 1200 students of Lambton high, as well as the local community. I can not understand how removing these ovals from all these user groups for a Basketball complex makes any sense. Currently Lambton high use these ovals on a daily basis for PDHPE, elective subjects, lunch and recess breaks and it is their emergency evacuation point. The mitigation for this in the EIS is that the students can use the new sports facility – however, this is not useful for all their outdoor sports. The students don’t need more time inside, they need fresh air and grass. The EIS also suggests the students can use other local parks – this will require teachers to shuffle students down the road and to cross a road which raises issues of safety. In the event of an emergency , this would require moving 1200 students and staff away from the school and across the road which would result in chaos.
I am also yet to understand where the sporting clubs being displaced by this proposal are going to be reallocated and what will the impact of this will be on the current users of those ovals?

Lack of consultation
Living only 1.4km from the proposed site I would have expected to be consulted about such a significant development in my local area. The only way I have heard about this is via the media and Facebook. Having children that attend Lambton high and living in such close proximity this is not good enough.

Other impacts on Lambton high
I am concerned about the impact of construction noise on students who are trying to listen and learn. Students are already struggling with learning, mental health and other challenges that cause disruption to their learning. I note the mitigation for this is works will only occur between 8am-6pm Monday to Friday – I question how this is helpful as this is exactly the times students are at school?

Parking and traffic congestion
The area is already very busy with regular commuters. When there are events on at McDonald Jones stadium if becomes difficult to get in and out of the area. I am concerned about the impact on local streets when there are an extra 22,000 people per week as stated in the APP groups operational management report. I am aware on many occasions residents have been “parked in” and have had to call NSW police for assistance – this is a waste of police resources and an unreasonable expectation for residents to contend with. With this facility operation 7 days a week – 6am-11pm, I can expect this will occur more frequently.


Noise for local residents
I am concerned about the noise that the facility will generate with basketball patrons leaving until 11pm x 7 days a week. Usual behaviour is to talk while walking to cars, bounce a ball etc. I am very worried about the impact of the 2 outdoor half courts and outdoor gym and the hours people may congregate at these. They are directly opposite houses on Monash road and have not been assessed as part of the noise report, crime report or lighting report.

The cost of the proposal
I am very concerned about the full budget for the project being $90 million and the fact Newcastle basketball only have $25 million. Where will this extra funding come from? At a time when the government is in so much debt and unable to fund public hospitals, public education, housing etc why should this money be given to one sporting code?

For all of these reasons I do not agree with this proposal being built at the chosen site. I feel like the entire proposal is flawed and has been grossly dismissive of the local community and how negatively they will be impacted.

In support of the development