The disability and community support organisation, Allambi Care, has revealed its plans to build a $20 million sports lifestyle centre at Warners Bay, which it says will offer a pathway for the organisation to rely less on the public purse to operate.
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Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser said the project, dubbed 'Rushfields' on social media on Wednesday, as "great news for the Hunter and a vote of confidence in Lake Macquarie City's economy".
The plans include an Olympic standard indoor skate park, BMX precinct and wave pool, the running of which Cr Fraser said will create more than 118 full-time jobs once construction is completed.
The site will also include a restaurant and café zone, and up to 84 beds for accommodation for kids holiday camps.
The completed project is expected to inject $41 million into the local economy annually, Allambi says.
The not-for-profit support services organisation has purchased three parcels of business park zoned land and associated buildings at 236, 246 and 250 Macquarie Road among an area largely made up of large format indoor recreation, entertainment, bulky goods and retails spaces.
"This is not an out of the box project," The organisation's project lead, Steve Graham, said. "It includes new and innovative approaches not just to the physicality of the space but also in its capital raising and ongoing financial management.
"We have been working with specialists with connections into major international brands that will bring investment into the project on an ongoing basis that will also provide experience, products and equipment not currently available in Australia."
The development application has been lodged with Lake Macquarie City Council and, if approved, Allambi says the new facility will provide a pathway for community service organisations to decrease reliance on public funds to remain viable.
Allambi has operated in the community and disability services sector since 1981 and says it recognises the sectors increased pressure on government funding.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Allambi Care described the project as "a strategic pathway to establishing a practical, logical and responsible way to be self-sustaining".
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Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
