Newcastle needs this due to the growing population and the kids need a venue to participate in the community.

I still object to the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre proposal. The planned amendments worsen the impact on students and teachers at Lambton High School and the surrounding residents.
Increasing the set back from Turton Rd brings the stadium closer to the high school and will mean that there will be no part oval left for students. No green space for PE, sport or a safe evacuation point. There is still no oval for students. Students cannot access nearby Arthur Edden oval as this is a National Premier League ground and Lambton High School students cannot access this. Harker oval is not available for LHS student use either.
Increasing the height of the stadium will impact residents that back onto the ovals from Young Rd. Southern classrooms at Lambton High School will have reduced natural light. Construction noise right next door will affect the students learning environment. How long will construction last? How is this fair for students to learn in a noisy environment? Windows aren't easily closed in summer as the school doesn't have the Ausgrid requirements to allow for air conditioners to be installed in.
Moving a driveway entrance 3m, how will this do anything for congestion? Is Newcastle Basketball trying to be witty, by moving it 3m, it's very close to the 3.05m of a basketball hoop. It will do nothing.
Lambton High students still won't have green space or a safe evacuation point. Residents and other oval users will have lost their green space. The government needs to find another place for the stadium

I strongly object to the proposal of the Basketball Stadium being built on Wallarah and Blackley Oval for the following reasons:
1. Building on this space is going to increase the flood issues for local residents and business's in addition to Lambton High School. Already recognised as a flood prone area, please reference the drastic rise of insurance costs over the past few years due to flooding. With the basketball stadium being built it will amplify the flood levels and cause damage, loss and possibly fatalities. Increased flooding will also raise insurances.
2. Pressure on local residences to house parking overflow. Building a basketball complex with insufficient parking is going to cause parking issues for local residents and businesses. It is a regular occurrence for visitors to McDonald Jones stadium attending rugby league to park illegally across driveways creating access issues to properties whilst others will park right to the corner off an intersection over yellow painted lines impeding vision. This is an extremely dangerous situation and with many children around this amplifies my concerns. I can only imagine if the numbers of people playing basketball is predicted this is going to be a constant problem on a daily basis.

Increased parking along side streets around the stadium for example Hitchcock Avenue and Henderson Street on both sides of the road raises my concern for health providers (ambulance), fire trucks and other emergency vehicles ability to access all residential dwellings in case of an emergency. Inability to guarantee access for these essential services creates an extreme health and safety concern. Parking on both sides of these narrow streets cannot assure access of these vehicles.

3.Taking away green space. These ovals are well maintained and used and the thought that this could be removed is alarming. Not only for the health benefits green space delivers but it will be taking away fields from Lambton High School which uses this space for sprots/PE lessons, cross country events, colour runs, assembly point for emergencies. There is also other sporting clubs who use these fields on a daily basis, soccer, cricket, hockey and touch football (Hornets rep side).

4. How will this build be sponsored? Currently the basketball stadium has insufficient funds to pay for the complete build or even the first stage of the build. My concern is if the works are started and lack of funds cannot continue the build, green space will be sacrificed and an incomplete facility will exist.

5. Being built next to the high school how will building noise not affect students who are listening to learn. I have children attending this high school and concerned building noise will distract potential

6. I also have concerns about trucks using the supporting side streets to deliver heavy machinery and supplies such as Monash Road. Roads are now in patched condition and heavy weighted vehicles will cause added stress and repairs to these roads. In addition students ride bikes and walk to and from school which will lead to sharing with heavy vehicles.

I believe the above points will create negative flow on effects to the liveability in this area. To provide a great outcome it would be wonderful to have residents voices heard and find a solution majority of stakeholders can agree upon.

I believe that the main problem with the proposal is that it would cause Lambton High school to be without an adjacent oval, unlike possibly all State High Schools in the Lower Hunter. The school operates approximately 40 weeks per year, and uses the existing oval daily, weather permitting, both as part of lessons and during recess and lunch times, so it is an important facility for the school. The proposal would mean that in order for students to access open green space during recess, beyond the small area that the proposal leaves, they would need to each have a leave pass to leave the school grounds, walk 100 metres approximately along Womboin Road, and cross Wallarah Rd to reach Ford Oval, which may be difficult for the school to supervise. For PE lessons and the like, teachers would need to take the class by the same path if the proposed area left over from this proposal wasn’t large enough, which may often be the case. It seems regrettable to severely compromise the school facility in order to create the proposed facility, as worthy as it may be, a situation of robbing Peter to pay back Paul. Many other parks or open spaces as sites would not have this effect, so it seems in this sense like one of the worst places to locate the proposal.

I continue to object to the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) development that is again open for exhibition. Whilst it continues to be called the HISC, I note the Scoping Report has referred to this site as the Hunter Basketball Stadium- which clearly is the purpose of this site, not for multi-use as it appears to suggest. Department of Planning NSW Public Space Charter 2021 states that “Public spaces are for everyone, and should be multifunctional, inclusive, and adaptable”, from the EIS of this development, this is certainly not the case.
I refer to various sections of the Scoping Report- developed for Hunter Basketball and not for everyone. “The City of Newcastle Council (Council) has confirmed that this area of land can be used for the development”. Where was the consultation about this from the City of Newcastle?? The site may have been confirmed by NCC and councilors, but the local residents, including myself and my family were not genuinely consulted. The biggest swing of votes in the local elections under the former Lord Mayor of Nuatali Nelmes, who held the seat in this ward, lost her position after her support of project and land WITHOUT transparent consultation of the people. The State Government commitment of this project was also under a different political party, the Liberal leadership- again VOTED out. The people are speaking once they heard of this “confirmed” land…yet this ridiculous project continues to proceed.
It is stated in the Scoping Report, the first stage is only building 6 courts, with the rest of the build and stage dependent on funding- what about the 6 courts available in Newcastle already? Why not put a roof on it? Surely that is cheaper and utilizes already developed land. Are the local people set to lose their green space for the sake of 6 courts?
Again, according to this Scope, the justification is attempted to align with the Hunter Regional Plan 2041 “It supports active lifestyles and facilitates the social and cultural needs of the community”- this is absurd! The site is used already by the Jaffas football club, cricket clubs and local football coaches, plus families like mine. They use the site the maximum amount of hours the council allows them to, up to 25 hours a week, not to mention as a site for the local pre-school Jumping Jacks to use for excursions and exercise and Lambton High School as playing fields that are safe, close and accessible for kids with various neurodivergent or physical needs. To consider a user pay site as “supporting active lifestyles…facilitating the needs of the community” is dictatorial and not consultative of the local residents and community.
Planning Priority 8 Newcastle Local Strategic Planning “Urban Renewal Corridors” implies that land they are focused on are RENEWING is previous urban development, not losing green space to new development. Surely looking at alternative locations that are already developed to enhance is a better option. The University of Newcastle has ample space, a train station, accommodation options and myriad car parks that could accommodate such a development. Not only this, but could support local talent in completing studies AND a space to develop their basketball skills. Once this site of green space is removed, it will never be replaced. I am not opposed to the development of sporting facilities, but this site is not the right location for urban renewal.
The Broadmeadow Place Strategy is outside of the boundary the basketball stadium wants to inhabit- how can this be a contributing factor to this development as cited in the Scope? In order for it to be effective and complimentary, surely having this site part of the Broadmeadow Place Strategy and not a spill over into beautiful green space should be the priority, not extending it across a major road into residential space.
In the Response to submissions and amendment report- The reduction of green space 3.3.1, issue loss of sporting ovals/recreational oval space, loss of space for Lambton High School and informal recreation space in the response, it is noted Lambton High School will have access to both Arthur Edden and Harker Ovals. These ovals are not available for the public to access and are locked.
Share our space, was announced on 8th April 2025 by the NSW Government. The announcement declared that NSW Government Schools would be opening their sites for public access to facilities outside of school hours, to allow communities to access green space. The proposed site of Wallarah and Blackley Ovals and its proximity to Lambton High School represent the most optimum use of green space, being available for school use for school hours and sports and community groups after school hours. Approving the development would remove access for 1200 students and staff during the day and take away from local residents outside of school hours, completing contradicting the statement the NSW Government has issued.
The Response to submissions and amendment report is very misleading. The report notes the City of Newcastle Strategic Sports Plan 2020, identifies the need to review the ongoing use of the site Blackley and Wallarah oval 1 and 2 for cricket due to the ovals being “non- compliant” with Cricket Australia standards. The response omits key information, such as, whilst the ovals might not adhere to cricket Australia standards, it fails to mention the fact that the site is identified in City of Newcastle Strategic Sports Plan 2020 and that the site is identified as a proposed location for a Football Centre of Excellence. The highest uptake of sport in the region according to statistics in the City of Newcastle Strategic Sports Plan 2020 states in Section 2.4 that “From data supplied by regional and state associations, football (soccer) accounts for, by far, the highest proportion of participation in the Newcastle LGA (27.5%)”. Basketball receives almost no mention in this report, assumably due to the poor uptake in the region with the only comment being “Basketball facilities- Review the provision of both recreational and competition basketball facilities in Newcastle LGA.” Yet the Scope of works suggests this development must go ahead and is required to meet the demands of the growing sport. Given there are no statistics or investigations into the growing demands of basketball in Newcastle, the need for such a site does not actually meet the needs of the people. This elitist approach of providing a facility for basketball, a sport that clearly does not have high participation numbers, lacks consideration for the families and socio-economic conditions of people in the area.
2.2.1 Traffic and Access, section of the Scope states, “Parking for the site is provided on Monash Road, with pedestrians crossing via a bridge over the stormwater canal to the ovals. It is noted that these spaces are not dedicated parking spaces for the oval and are used by residents as well as visitors to McDonald Jones Stadium”, to suggest that there is ample parking space for people “provided” on Monash Road is ignorant of the traffic congestion that already exists for residents. When the Knights play, the Hockey fields are being used AND 6 courts, potentially 11 and a show court are being used, this will make the residential roads and surrounds so unsafe for the local New Lambton residents, including myself and my family, let alone the fact the site only operates with one entrance and exit, which has now been moved closer to Monash road will serve to put at risk all people who live in this area and use the other local parks recreationally. The Scope states that there will be 22,500 visitors per week at full development with 205 car spaces at any time. If all courts are operational there will be 110 players at any given time, then considering the crowd capacity, where will all these people park? There is only provision for 250 car parks. If you average car capacity as 4 person, that is only accounting for paring for 1000 people at any given time. But with 11 courts AND a showcourt, where will people park? In the residential streets and the “provided” parks on Monash? This is not possible, let alone should there be other sports on at the same time. Mc Donald Jones has a capacity of 30,000 people, that’s 7,500 cars. Further to this, the site will be open from 7am until 10pm, which means access to the High School for my children walking will be fraught with clogged streets full of cars, excessive traffic, with nowhere to park (certainly with such limited provided parking in the centre) leading to a much higher risk of accidents and deaths of school children walking to and from school all whilst this site is operational and simply a money-making facility. How does that support the local children and community?
I vehemently object to the continuation of the development of the HISC as a matter of safety for our children and the future of green space. The local ward has already seen excessive increase in population since COVID and will only become a dangerous place to live. Furthermore, the application process and consultation of the community has not been transparent and poorly managed. So many features of this application clearly go against government and council policies that it cannot be considered as suitable, if we are to consider that these policies are morally upheld.

I fully and wholeheartedly support this proposal, the location couldn’t be more perfect, surrounded by a hub of sporting excellence. This is where it belongs.
Newcastle Basketball deserves this. Our kids deserve this. Our community deserves this. The growth of basketball in Newcastle has been nothing short of phenomenal, and it’s time we match that energy with the facilities to support it.
Let’s get this stadium built — not someday, but now. Let’s give Newcastle the platform it needs to launch a professional basketball team we can all rally behind. The future of basketball in this city is bright — let’s not hold it back any longer.

Newcastle is in dire need of a new community facility for basketball and many other indoor sports. I strongly believe that the proposed development is a fantastic opportunity that will enhance the Broadmeadow sporting precinct, and will be an effective use of vacant land that is currently infrequently used (and often water-logged). I consider that the development has been carefully designed to meet user requirements and appropriately adjusted in response to some valid points raised by concerns Newcastle community members.
Newcastle is a major regional hub for NSW, and continues to grow at a fast rate. Sport is extremely popular in the community all year round, and the local basketball association continues to grow at a great rate (as do other indoor sports facility associations such as pickleball, futsal and volleyball). The current facility is in somewhat an embarrassing dilapidated condition, and the city deserves a better, more modern and functional facility to accommodate the growing demand from its citizens.
I look forward to watching my children (and hopefully grandchildren) play their sport in this new facility, and watching the Newcastle community come together for major sports events that build greater social cohesion.

I’m writing in support of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre. This project is a much-needed upgrade for our region and will make a huge difference for local sport and the community.

The current Newcastle Basketball Stadium is old and no longer fit for purpose. With more people than ever wanting to play basketball there simply aren’t enough courts available. This centre would give kids, families and clubs a proper place to train and play all year round.

The design considers accessibility and multi-use spaces, so it’s not just for sport but also for schools, events and community groups. It will create jobs, attract visitors, and help activate the Broadmeadow precinct.

Of course traffic and flooding need to be managed, but the project team has already shown they’re addressing these issues. On balance, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

I strongly support the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre and encourage its approval.

My concerns are primarily focused on two critical issues:
Increased Traffic Congestion: The area is already experiencing significant traffic volume, particularly during major event hours. Additional development will inevitably worsen congestion, pose safety risks for pedestrians and cyclists, and reduce the overall quality of life for existing residents.
Flood Risks and Drainage Concerns: The proposed development area is susceptible to flooding, and further construction could exacerbate drainage issues. Increasing impervious surfaces like roads and buildings will reduce natural water absorption, heightening the risk of flash floods and water damage to nearby properties. This poses a serious environmental and public safety concern.
For these reasons, I urge decision-makers to reconsider or deny approval of this development until a thorough, transparent impact assessment is conducted and meaningful mitigation measures are proposed.