Newcastle Basketball's $102m indoor centre faces IPC public meeting

The Independent Planning Commission will hold a public meeting on the $102 million Hunter Indoor Sports Centre on Thursday 19 November, as Newcastle Basketball’s proposal to replace its ageing Broadmeadow stadium moves into a new stage of state assessment in New South Wales. The meeting starts at 10am in Lecture Theatre CT202, Level 2 of the CT Building, on the University of Newcastle’s Callaghan campus.

Newcastle Basketball’s cost estimate for the project rose from about $82 million to $102 million earlier this year, Newcastle Weekly reported. The organisation attributed the increase to construction costs and additional design work. The proposal would deliver a 12-court centre at Wallarah and Blackley ovals. Plans call for a main show court able to seat 2,500 people on retractable seating, plus facilities for high-performance training and space set aside for community and school use. It would replace the club’s current home at Broadmeadow, a stadium the outlet described as over five decades old with only two full courts.

Why it matters

The IPC, not the local council, is the consent authority that will decide the project’s fate, and the 19 November meeting is the public’s chance to put submissions directly to the commissioners before they assess it. Registrations to speak close at 12pm on Wednesday 11 November, though people can also register to attend without speaking. Written submissions can still be lodged through the commission’s online portal until 11.59pm on Sunday 29 November, including from people who have already made a submission, given developments in the assessment since.

The numbers

The most recent exhibition drew 1,278 submissions, with about 69 per cent in support, though Newcastle Weekly described the proposal as having divided the community. The cost estimate has risen by roughly a quarter, from $82 million to $102 million, which Newcastle Basketball attributed to construction costs and additional design work.

What’s next

Newcastle Basketball said the meeting would play what it called a pivotal role in the commission’s independent assessment of the proposal. The IPC will weigh what is said at the meeting and the written submissions lodged through its portal before making its determination; no date for that decision has been published, and the commission’s ruling will ultimately decide whether the 12-court replacement for Broadmeadow stadium proceeds at all.