Time to build: City of Greater Shepparton Deputy Mayor Anthony Brophy, Gators player Dylan Wilkie, Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, candidate for the seat of Shepparton Kim O'Keeffe, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development Anne Webster and Gators player Jordan Michel at the Shepparton Sports Stadium.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The Greater Shepparton Basketball Association has joined calls for a $60 million rebuild of the Shepparton Sports Stadium.
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The association said the stadium was packed to the rafters on local competition days, tournaments were being taken elsewhere, and fans were being turned away from Shepparton Gators games.
The centre is also used for badminton and table tennis, as well as by school groups.
The proposed rebuild would include six courts, a 3000-seat retractable grandstand for a show court, new amenities and external works.
The $60 million price tag would be paid for by $25 million from the Federal Government, $20 million from the Victorian Government and $15 million stumped up by council.
Greater Shepparton Basketball administrator Tony Long said the association was as busy as he had seen in his four decades in the sport, and the current facilities were bursting at the seams.
“It’s massive and it’s a good problem to have, but it’s a massive problem,” Mr Long sad.
He said there would be 1200 participants in the competition beginning next week, and running the competition across both the stadium and the old Wanganui College stadium was becoming difficult to administrate.
Shepparton was also being overlooked for major events, Mr Long said.
“I sit on the committee that announces where the events for Basketball Victoria are going to be held, and they're not coming somewhere like here with six courts,” he said.
Backing: Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development Anne Webster.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
“They want to go to 10-court venues, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong; if we put four courts on the back here, we'd have those events, we'd have the prosperity for the town because that's what it brings in.”
Mr Long also said the Shepparton Gators, who had made the grand final of the Big V competition, had outgrown the seating capacity of the stadium.
“At Gators games, we’re sending people away because we can't get them in, we can't fit them here.
“Several guys are primary school teachers, they're connected obviously to the local community pretty heavily through the kids, and the kids are just wanting to come and see Mr Bartlett and Mr Beks and Mr Waight play.”
He spoke as Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development Anne Webster visited Shepparton on Thursday to meet with Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell and call for the new Federal Government to deliver the funding.
Federal Coalition candidates pledged $25 million during the election campaign, and while Mr Birrell won the seat, the Coalition lost the election, meaning it couldn’t deliver the funding.
However, Dr Webster and Mr Birrell called on the Albanese Government to deliver the funding.
“My encouragement to the Labor Government is that they step up and fund this facility as we committed to, and that the Victorian Government also does the same,” Dr Webster said.
“The pressure is on them to not ignore our regional communities, but to ensure that our regional communities get what we actually deserve.
“Their focus has not been largely in regional areas, that is of concern, and it makes our job even more critical in opposition that we hold them to account.”
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