By Goya Dmytryshchak
Hobsons Bay council has released two draft reports aimed at addressing the municipality’s dire shortage of sports facilities.
Mayor Angela Altair said the draft Sports Facilities Needs analysis and Tennis Needs Assessment would help guide future investment and improvements.
“About 20,000 people participate in formal sporting activities in Hobsons Bay venues each week, with half of these participants coming from our neighbouring cities in the west,” she said. “Our city’s top six sports, with forecasted future growth, are netball, basketball, AFL, tennis, soccer and cricket.”
An online council survey completed by 68 of Hobsons Bay’s 110 sports clubs found nearly half felt they were exceeding capacity at their primary venues and 43 per cent expected an increase in female participation.
A proposal to develop sports grounds at Bayside P-12 College in Newport has been identified as a priority. The state government has offered the council $200,000 towards its development, estimated to cost $2million.
Cr Peter Hemphill said the two reports would help the council identify demand and where it needed to prioritise building facilities.
“For tennis, the demand is in the Williamstown area and we’re already about 10-12 courts short now,” he said.
“For football, it’s mostly in the Strand ward [Williamstown, Williamstown North, Newport, South Kingsville and Spotswood], but that’s because nearly all the clubs either are located there or [it’s] where their base is or where they play.”
He said there was a municipal-wide need for soccer facilities.
“And while we have indicated that we need to extend the basketball/netball complex in Altona Meadows, we also need to begin building and planning for training and competition facilities in the rail corridor along Williamstown, Newport and Spotswood.”
For details, visit participate.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au
