Fraser Coast Regional Council has endorsed an innovative funding agreement to help the Hervey Bay Basketball Association at the Fraser Coast Sports and Recreation Precinct.
“Given the growth of basketball across the Fraser Coast, particularly in the Hervey Bay area over the past three decades, there is a critical shortage of appropriate sporting and community facilities to service the sport,” Cr Daniel Sanderson said.
“The proposal by Council is innovative and enables the association to build a modest interim facility to meet their needs for the next decade on land leased from Council at the precinct.”
Under the plan, developers within the catchment area for the precinct could choose to allocate their infrastructure charges to the development of community facilities at the precinct. Normally the funds are collected by Council which allocates them to a range of infrastructure projects within the catchment area.
“The infrastructure charges from the equivalent of 100 new housing lots would generate $2.8 million," Cr Sanderson said.
“Other projects would not be affected as funds collected from developers outside the precinct catchment area would still be available for other projects.
“The $2.8 million, coupled with $500,000 from the association, would be enough for a facility with two indoor courts and one outdoor court.
“The community will be able to use the facility when the basketball association is not using it for practice and games, so Council is also providing additional community and recreational facilities at the precinct.”
The Fraser Coast Sports and Recreation Precinct is a 60Ha site located on the corner of Woods Road and Road 477, Nikenbah. The sports precinct is a multi-stage development that will cater for the sport and recreation needs of the Fraser Coast community now and into the future. The precinct was opened on 16 February 2019 and currently includes:
Netball - eight (8) standard netball courts with acrylic non-slip court surfacing to Netball Australia specification, exceeding 200 lux lighting, and a club house facility;
Soccer - Two (2) premium playing surfaces and two (2) standard playing surfaces, FIFA standard, field lighting of over 200 lux and club house facility; and,
Oztag - Allocation of three (3) standard soccer fields providing six (6) standard oztag fields.
A Master Plan is a long term vision that guides how a park or sporting precinct can look and function in the future.
The Master Plan for the Fraser Coast Sports and Recreation Precinct will provide a framework for the future development of a regional sport and recreation hub that will meet the needs of the Fraser Coast community into the future. It will help guide future development to avoid ad hoc improvements and maximise community use and long term viability.
The Master Plan will consider:
There are 5 key stages in development of the Master Plan:
Stage 1: Background research and site analysis
Stage 2: Community and stakeholder engagement to inform the vision, principles and design direction
Stage 3: Analysis and future potential directions
Stage 4: Draft concept plans & community engagement
Stage 5: Final Master Plan
The timing and development of the master plan will be subject to funding. Upon completion, the master plan will be considered for Council’s capital works program and prioritised in line with other Council activities and priorities. Ultimate implementation of the master plan will depend on availability of funding. Council will investigate a number of funding sources including other government agencies, grants and partnerships.
You can stay up to date with the project by registering your interest on Council’s Engagement Hub (Sport and Recreation Precinct Master Plan) project page.
There will be opportunities to contribute to online discussions on the Engagement Hub page.
All current and potential sport and recreation users of the precinct and key community stakeholders will be directly invited to provide input.
Additional public consultation will be undertaken on the future design direction later in the project.
If this is your first time using Council's Engagement Hub, to create an account - please click on the link: https://frasercoast.engagementhub.com.au/register
When prompted, create a username and password of your choice and provide a valid email address. To follow this project - once you have signed in click the "Follow Project" button at the top of this project page.
If you have already registered and wish to be included in project updates, please login and click the "Follow Project" button at the top of this project page.