BY JAMES CARTER
The Newcastle Independents have announced they will conduct a review of local sports facilities, after a forum identified 'years of neglect" and high levels of frustration with the current Labor Council.
The forum, conducted by Councillors John Church and Kath Elliott, Ward 2 candidate PJ Fallon and Ward 3 candidate Dave Wild, identified 'significant deficiencies' within local infrastructure for sporting clubs.
Councillor Church said the sporting groups they have engaged with have universally described facilities as not up to scratch.
"It was fantastic to engage with the sporting community and hear the issues they face, but disappointing at the same time that they put so many hours of their own time in each year, only to be let down by the poor facilities and playing fields ".
“At the same time , some clubs have had increases of thousand of dollars in fees from one year to the next. One football club is paying $90,000 in fees to Council and can’t get any action on improvements,” Cr Church said.
“Instead we see Labor spending millions on high end representative sport, at the expense of the kids and families who are playing sport every weekend and deserve to have good facilities.”
The Independents have pledged to focus on increased female and disabled participation
Labor Councilors have submitted a motion to council to acknowledge and congratulate City of Newcastle Parks and Recreation Staff for the delivery of over $21 million in capital works upgrades for local sporting facilities.
In the motion, they note the NSW Government has made the City of Newcastle ineligible to apply for funding to enhance women's sporting facilities including changes rooms.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes wrote to the Deputy Premier outlining the results of an audit of local sporting venues finding that only one of 63 facilities has identified female friendly change rooms to cater for high quality sport.
Councillor Elliott has also visited numerous facilities in the Ward 4 area, with the Beresfield Touch Association the worst.
"There
is a bird's nest in the roof, with a hole in the ceiling. I could
actually see the birds when I was there, and the canteen is not at all fit for
purpose. This is a huge and growing organisation; all these clubs pay
fees to use these facilities, we need to cater to their needs better than what
we have been."
The Notice of Motion from the Labor Councillor will be considered by Council this evening.
 |
| The Beresfield Touch Association building on a visit by Councillor Elliott Image: Supplied |
