Wollongong City Council will inject a further $700,000 into the region’s first ever synthetic pitch, allaying any concerns that work on the long-awaited project could stall because of a cost blowout.
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The council had already planned to provide $700,000 to upgrade the surface at Ian McLennan Park, but agreed to double that total last week after several issues emerged during the design process.
Costs rose due to problems with the surface at the ground, with changes also required to the pitch size, venue security and lighting.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery told the Illawarra Mercury last month he felt the project would now exceed the $2 million mark and encouraged council to increase its contribution.
The $1.4 million total, coupled with an additional $500,000 from the NSW Government’s Club Grants and a substantial contribution from Football South Coast, should ensure the project is completed in 2018. After several years pushing for the pitch, Football South Coast chairman Eddy De Gabriele was pleased to see the project edging closer to becoming a reality.
"It's great for the region that this is happening," he said.
"The ground will be put in, in 2018, whether that is mid or late in the year.”
It is hoped the synthetic pitch will be the first of many in the region and Cr Bradbery said that motivation was a key contributor to the push for added funding to the project.
“To get the first of a series of pitches throughout the city – which we are working towards as part of our sports strategy – this would be the first one to get across the line,” he said.
“That’s why there is urgency and as far as I am concerned, $700,000 for a project is relatively [small]. We did have sufficient funds in reserves to be able to meet that need.”
As the Illawarra isn’t considered regional by the NSW Government, the project is unfortunately ineligible to receive additional funding from the newly announced $100 million Regional Sports Infrastructure Fund. Cr Bradbery believes that needs to change.
“The mayoral minute at our last meeting was all about saying to the State Government that we want to be considered regional so we can make use of those sort of opportunities,” he said.
