Lake Macquarie City Council has unveiled plans for a potential $35 million upgrade of Hunter Sports Centre at Glendale.
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A development application for a staged expansion of the athletics facility and indoor sports centre was lodged last week.
Proposed upgrades under the plans include a 4670 square-metre three-storey community centre, a 1975 square-metre trampolining centre of excellence featuring a 450-seat grandstand, and an athletics warm-up and testing area that would confer tier-one athletic status on the centre.
The plans also show proposed additions to the track and field facilities, a new access road, bus and car parking spaces, and landscaping upgrades around the perimeter of the site.
The council is yet to secure funding for the project, but it hopes to bring it to shovel-ready status by gaining approval for the development from the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel while continuing advocacy for funding.
Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said an upgraded centre would improve community access to facilities and programs, and support community groups within the local and regional area.
She said visitation at the existing centre had grown to a point where its operations are self-sustaining, but the council had identified an increasing demand for event and community use.
"The proposed Hunter Sports Centre expansion will make Lake Macquarie a prominent sporting hub in NSW, boosting the visitor economy, providing a first-rate facility for local sporting and community groups and driving sports tourism in the region," she said.
"With the support of federal, state and local government, we can deliver a state-of-the-art sporting facility that will nurture the talents of athletes from regional Australia, empowering them to compete in national and international events."
The council outlined plans for a $10 million trampolining centre of excellence in conjunction with Gymnastics NSW last June but it did not receive state funding.
It was pitched as a national training base for the Olympic sport's best athletes and to host competitions of local to elite level standards.
Cr Fraser said the trampoline centre could be a landmark on the NSW sports landscape and help to nurture and grow champions of an increasingly popular gymnastics discipline.
Hunter Sports Centre general manager Colin Southworth said if the overall expansion gained state or federal funding it would provided greater opportunities for regional athletes.
"The Hunter Sports Centre is the region's premier gymnastics and athletics venue, and with financial support from all levels of government, the expansion will bring greater opportunities for community involvement and major events at the facility," he said.
The $35 million upgrade plans represent another huge boost for sports infrastructure in Lake Macquarie after the council secured a new home for Newcastle Basketball at Hillsborough late last year.
The NSW government pledged $25 million to a 10-court facility with a 4,000-seat show court before the March election. Basketball officials hope the funding will be included in the upcoming state budget.
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