I have major concerns for the parking that is needed for this project. The surrounding streets are very narrow and will not handle the amount of visitors that these basketball courts will bring. Not to mention the fact that emergency services are unable to access these homes when cars are parked on both sides of the street. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

We need this stadium as soon as possible

I object the proposed re-location and construction of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre as detailed in SSD-65595459.
Reasons are as follows
- restricts future expansion of Lambton High School to accommodate the potential influx of students from re-zoning, population increase in Broadmeadow and shift in local community towards families with school age children.
- the proposed site is the current location of many organised and casual field sports, including the sports ground for students at Lambton High School and few alternatives are available locoally
- replacement of a water absorbing grass field with an impervious concrete structure shifts and amplifies the risk of flooding to neighbouring residential, commercial and public high school dwellings.
- extra traffic on top of an already exhausted street parking situation with local McDonald Stadium, International Hockey Stadium, local sport and community has not been adequately accounted for. Already cars are parked across driveways, on median strips, etc and this will be exacerbated with the stadium.
- the green corridor along Lambton Ker-rai Creek offers a connective cycle way and walking path that creates equitable access to people on foot (walking and running), cycling, people using wheelchairs and modified cycles and prams. The development of a major basketball stadium would destroy approximately 25% of the corridor.
- sports precinct is already bordered by Griffiths Rd, Turton Rd and Lambton Rd, and this is the precinct that should also accommodate the stadium re-build in situ or redesign the infrastructure on corner of Turton and Griffiths Road. For example, the Go-Karts could be moved to the centre of the Harness Racing track. This area is already well supported by medical centre, existing transport options and carparks established.
- an alternate site is the space between Kings Road and the trainline.
- justification for a new building to minimise impact on sport during a re-build is NOT a valid reason to utilise much needed green space in the region.
- if the sports precinct cannot fit an indoor stadium, then suggest relocate to an outer suburb of Newcastle such as Shortland or Wallsend to create equitable access to sport and inject funds into outer communities (rather than people a having to travel into New Lambton for every sport).
- visually, it is important to have long distance, green spaces to enjoy, especially in dense residential zones, that will amplify with the proposed future development of Broadmeadow.
- pedestrian pathways to school will be compromised for local school students
- local real estate prices will plummet with the shift from beautiful green spaces to busy, noisy, buildings and extra traffic
- it is very lazy and unimaginable to pick a big 'empty' space to plonk a stadium, it is very disappointing that this proposal has even made it to the development stage
I implore the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure to object the Development Application in its totality

The site is unsuitable for the following points
1) loss of green space to the community
2) current use by the Lambton High school as play area and sports ground, when the school was approved with limited play ground space a special permission was requited due to the small footprint of land available . They would have no space for recreation if the project went ahead.
3) use by the local sports team, several junior teams
4) the suggestion of transferring these teams to Ks away is impractical as no close options are available.
5) public use for games and dog walking by community members and visitors
6) flood zone beside the serious flood the area 2007 has been inundated in the last few months. Many photos are available of the recent events.
7) since the flood in 2007, the insurance for properties in the area has increased 3 fold
8) the local area is currently inundated with traffic when the Knights Stadium is in use. The traffic results in illegal parking in all the local streets, the streets adjacent to the proposed development. Evidence of the traffic congestion, illegal parking photos is readily available .
9) the local community and users of the park object to the loss of the green space and the overwhelming problems the traffic congestion has caused from exceisting sporting fixtures. The burden of additional sporting fixtures would be catastrophic.
10) the traffic and parking during current fixtures has on occasions prevented ambulance service being able to reach the patient.
11) the site was very poorly chosen and consultation with the local organisation has not happened.
12) there are inaccuracies in the net ball submission opportunities to consult with locals have not been made despite offers to do so for the organisation SOLO save our local ovals.
13) misinformation regarding the funding is either a poor calculation of naive.

In support of the basketball stadium just not on this site - effects too many children at LHS and soccer and cricket on those fields. Find somewhere else to build. Dont take away green areas that are utilised by so many in particular kids.

There is insufficient parking for major events in this area currently. The ovals are used by Lambton High School, sporting clubs and the community. It is disgrace that these venues are to be lost to one selfish group which has little benefit to the whole populus.

I want to register my objections to the proposed location for the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (Newcastle Basketball Stadium). I have several concerns with both the original proposal and the amended one, relating to community access for the stated users, parking, transport options, and community consultation.

Stated Users of the Stadium:
- I object that the NSW Government is supporting this proposal with funding when it serves only a small proportion of Hunter residents. The regions surrounding Newcastle are growing significantly with expected growth of 1% in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie LGA and of almost 2% in the Port Stephens, Maitland and Cessnock LGAs. (source: https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/data-and-insights/population-projections/explore-the-data). This statistic alone begs the question as to why the State Government would contribute to a reported $60M (plus) project in Newcastle and why the government fails to encourage the proponents to locate it somewhere more easily accessible to the fast-growing regions. A site closer to the freeway or Newcastle Link Road would be more feasible - traffic movements, parking and transport could be designed from the inception of the project rather than trying to shoehorn a large development into a crowded location.
- The proposal purports to be suitable for sports other than basketball but given the proposed usage times for basketball on mid-week evenings and on weekends, it gives lip-service to this development being anything other than a basketball stadium.
- The amended proposal removes green space in favour of a 'public access' strip next to the footpath on a major (and busy) road. This is farcical that this strip of green space is an any way useful or at all suitable for public access.

Transport Options Available:
One of the DCP objectives is to “ensure that within the development, allowance for suitable allocation of transport options away from vehicle dependency addresses the nominated transport modal split”.
- The proponents state this facility is for use for the whole Hunter region, not just for Newcastle Basketball but the transport options available to this location do not meet any expectation that people could travel safely and timely from outside the local area to the site by means other than by car. There are numerous other locations that would be manifestly more suitable for the stated purpose.
- The bus services to the area are limited to only 3 destinations (as in Appendix N – Green Travel Plans), the submission states that this is a suitable method of transport for visitors to the centre. However, history has shown public transport options are inadequate for the existing International Hockey Centre and Hunter Stadium events. The public transport options are not highly used for these events and have never been due to the inadequacy of routes and frequency.
- There is no evidence that the proponent has engaged with the local bus operators to improve the existing bus services around peak training and playing times.
- Train travel to site may be suitable during the daylight hours in dry weather, but not for when the majority of training is to occur after school and work hours or in adverse weather conditions. The closest train station approximately 1.2km – 1.5 km away by foot. The shorter route being along a bike path which is inadequately lit for the purposes of walking at night, the longer route along Lambton Rd.
- I have safety concerns regarding people waiting on Turton Rd or walking to Broadmeadow station at night after training. There is no plan to ensure that people can walk to/from or wait at these locations, no indication of lighting, security or anything other than a note that the route to the station is currently signposted. When there is a rugby league game on at the stadium, there are several hundred people walking to the train station, giving safety in numbers. After a mid-week training session at the basketball stadium, there may be one or two people making this trip in the dark. I certainly would not want my teenage child walking to the station at night after training, nor wait on Turton road for up to an hour for a bus.
- Appendix N – Green Travel Plan has promoted the concept of encouraging staff to park outside the centre on public roads. Given the closest access point to the stadium will be Monash Rd, there is one footbridge to gain access to the site, which will have the effect of concentrating parking at this area. This area is also gravel, not sealed, causing noise and dust for the nearby residents.

Parking
- Reiterating issues with the Green Travel Plan in relation to parking, the proponents state this facility is for use for the whole Hunter region, not just for Newcastle Basketball but the transport options available to this location do not meet any expectation that people could travel safely and timely from outside the local area to the site by any means other than by car.
- The amended proposal does not address parking issues, rather, it explicitly states that overflow parking will be an adjacent street. These streets, as have been highlighted previously are already under strain from the Hunter Stadium and the International Hockey Centre.
- History has shown public transport options are inadequate for the existing International Hockey Centre and Hunter Stadium events. On event weekends, the streets surrounding the area are clogged with traffic, frequently to outside my house on Russell Rd which is several blocks south of the mapping provided in Figure 2.2 of the report Appendix N – Green Travel Plans. For weekday events during the school term, the parking is also limited by students and staff at Lambton High School taking up most if not all on-street parking on Wallarah, Womboin and Young Roads which is 3 of the 4 roads where the report states that on-street parking is available.

Flooding
- The amended proposal does not significantly address the issues of flooding and flood mitigation measures. As noted in Appendix C – Mitigation Measures, this is a Medium risk level for flood occurrence (the likelihood is Possible, with Extensive consequences).
- Appendix I – Flood Impact Risk Assessment states that “However, whilst not meeting the nominal storage retention specified in the DCP, the proposed development satisfies the intent of this requirement …”. As background to my concerns, the streets surrounding this proposed facility have been subject to floods and a fatality in the area in 2007, being a traumatic event in recent memory for residents. As such with the flood risk not meeting the stated requirements, this cannot satisfy needs regarding flood impacts on the surrounding (off-site) community.
- In addition, the submission states that the ground during construction will be boggy – a clear indication that the developer understands the site is a natural flood retention area for the nearby community and drains. Their solution is to use piers in construction to reduce impacts on the building itself but does not address where the water that is displaced by the building will flow. The impact of the building could instead increase the pressure on the natural underground water retention mechanisms.
- The inclusion of bollards in the car park in the amended proposal also indicates the developers have knowledge that flooding at the site is a possible and probable event, to the extent that obstructions will be put in place to prevent cars from washing into the stormwater drain. This is a clear indicator that this is the wrong site for this large development.
- The proponents have engaged a not suitably qualified engineer to review the flood plans. Quoting from Appendix K – Flooding Peer Review, the consultant states that “I am not a flood modeller and can provide no commentary on the quality of the flood modelling undertaken by Torrent Consulting and upon which both the FIRA and FERP rely.” This flooding peer review should be excluded from the submission as a cynical ploy by the developers with no genuine desire to have the modelling reviewed adequately.

Community Consultation
As of this date (26th August), the promised community consultations have not occurred. There has been no community meeting organised by the proponent, and a series of drop-in sessions have been rumoured but not highly promoted or managed to ensure adequate community representation. Should these consultations occur after this late stage in the process, it is highly likely that any meetings will be choreographed to give the appearance of representation but are rushed in order to satisfy the Planning Commission’s requirement rather than being undertaken to genuinely consult for constructive community input.

Will cause parking issues and already a flood area.

I support the construction of a new sporting facility in Newcastle known as Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) as an important investment in the wellbeing of our community and the future of our region. Sporting facilities are hubs of physical activity, social interaction, and lifelong learning. They offer a space for all ages to come together, to move, to play, and to grow. The positive impacts such a facility can have on child development are profound and far-reaching particularly as the facility will cater for a range of sports including basketball, volleyball, badminton, netball, futsal, and pickleball.

In addition to wellbeing, health and social benefits, a sporting facility such as the HISC would have the capacity to host a range of regional, state and national sporting events bringing economic benefits to the region.

This submission outlines six significant reasons why establishing a new sporting facility would be of immense benefit to the Hunter region and its constituents.

1. Promoting Physical Health and Wellbeing
A new sporting facility provides a safe, accessible environment for children and adults to engage in regular physical activity. In an age where sedentary lifestyles and screen-based recreation are on the rise, the presence of a dedicated sports centre is crucial. Three positive benefits include:
1. Combatting childhood obesity and lifestyle diseases: facilities that support a range of sports and fitness activities encourage children to stay active, helping to prevent obesity, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related illnesses. Early engagement in physical activity is widely recognised to set the foundation for healthy habits that last a lifetime.
2. Supporting mental health: exercise is a proven antidote to anxiety, depression, and stress. By providing an outlet for energetic play and structured activity, a sporting facility supports the mental wellbeing of children and adults, offering relief from academic, social, and work-related pressures.
3. Encouraging inclusivity: modern sporting facilities are designed to be accessible to all, regardless of age or physical ability. This inclusiveness ensures that everyone in the community have the opportunity to experience the benefits of sport.

2. Fostering Social Cohesion and Community Spirit
Sporting facilities are natural gathering places that nurture community spirit and strengthen social bonds. They offer a venue for events, competitions, and shared experiences that bring people together. Such benefits include:
1. Building friendships and networks: team sports and group activities are proven to increase bonds of friendships and belonging. These relationships often extend beyond the field, fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness crucial to social development.
2. Encouraging volunteers and leadership: sporting clubs and events rely on volunteers and provide opportunities for leadership and mentorship. Young people can learn valuable skills by coaching, umpiring, or helping to organise events. Of course, social bonds formed in the act of service can happen at any age, and as many parents and volunteers who’ve come together to run clubs and associations can attest to.
3. Cross-cultural understanding: a central facility welcomes people from all backgrounds, promoting inclusion and mutual respect. Shared sporting experiences can break down barriers and create unity in diversity.

3. Enhancing Child Development
Engagement in sport and physical activity is essential to the healthy development of children, not just physically, but cognitively, emotionally, and socially. Four such benefits include:
1. Motor skills and coordination: regular physical activity improves balance, agility, and coordination. Children who participate in sports develop better fine and gross motor skills, which can benefit them in other areas of life.
2. Cognitive development: physical activity has been linked to improved concentration, memory, and academic performance. The discipline learned on the sports field often translates to the classroom, fostering persistence and resilience.
3. Emotional intelligence: team sports require communication, empathy, and emotional regulation. Children learn to win and lose gracefully, to support teammates, and to handle the stress of competition.
4. Creative play: sporting facilities often provide space for unstructured play as well as organised sport. This encourages creativity, risk-taking, and independent problem-solving.

4. Economic and Environmental Benefits
The benefits of a new sporting facility extend beyond health and social cohesion, they can also impact the local economy and environment in positive ways.
1. Boosting the economy: sporting events attract visitors, leading to increased patronage of local businesses such as cafes, shops, services, and accommodation providers. A sporting facility such as the HISC would have the capacity to host a range of regional, state and national sporting events across a range of different sports bringing economic benefits to the region. Employment opportunities are created in construction, facility management, coaching, and support services.
2. Enhancing property values: the presence of quality recreational infrastructure is a drawcard for families seeking to settle in the area, which can have a positive impact on property values and community growth.

5. Lifelong Learning and Healthy Habits
A sporting facility is more than just a place to play sport, it can also be a classroom for life. The lessons learned on and off the field lay the groundwork for healthy, productive futures by:
1. Developing discipline and work ethic: sport teaches the value of hard work, persistence and goal setting. These qualities are central not only to athletic achievement but to success in all areas of life.
2. Encouraging lifelong fitness: children who enjoy positive early experiences with sport are more likely to remain active as adults, reducing the risk of chronic disease and enhancing quality of life.
3. Providing positive role models: coaches, older athletes, and sports administrators serve as mentors, inspiring children to strive for their best and make healthy choices.

6. Meeting the Needs of a Growing Community
In the Hunter region, the need for accessible, quality sporting infrastructure grows ever more urgent. This is particularly evident in basketball where the number of children wanting to play the sport far outweigh the facilities that can meet that need. The new HISC can:
1. Address these shortages: many communities and sports in the area face a lack of suitable venues for sport to play and train. A new facility will help meet this growing need, allowing more children and families to participate.
2. Future-proofing our region: investing in sport today ensures that we have the capacity to meet the needs of tomorrow’s residents, helping to keep our community active, healthy, and connected for generations to come.

I made a submission last time and my concerns have not been addressed.
Traffic Chaos: As a local resident I have a good understanding of the local road network and how congested the area becomes when the Knights, Jets, hockey and concerts are on. The left turn in and out of Turton Rd is a logistical nightmare. In the Basketball response to submissions, I see the boom gates into the car park are back in and the turning lane is gone which could lead to traffic back up on Turton Road.
The $90 million price tag and likelihood of funding this: I remain very concerned that the funding will never be generated for the extra $60+ million dollars needed to complete this project. In Basketball’s response to submissions there is no update on the funding secured or on the cost to date. I am worried only half a stadium will be built.
Loss of Green space for the 1200 students of Lambton High School: The Lambton High School students use the green space to play informal sport on or just sit outside with friends. If this green space disappears the student’s closest unlocked oval is Kentish or Ford which requires crossing a road. This means always 2 teachers. Teachers are already at capacity and will struggle to facilitate students access to this green space at lunch time.