State sporting bodies and local clubs have helped Horsham Rural City Council create a blueprint for the future development of the city's sporting infrastructure.
Councillors on Monday adopted the Wimmera Regional Multisport Feasibility Study – opening the way for an indoor stadium and sports hub to be built at the Horsham College precinct along with enhanced sporting amenities at Haven and Dudley Cornell Park.
The report recommends a distributed model of upgrades and new facilities at the three sites:
- Dimboola Road site – Regional indoor stadium (including four high ball courts) and outdoor netball courts, plus municipal hockey pitch.
- Haven Recreation Reserve site – Regional tennis, two municipal soccer pitches, local cricket oval, community hub and open space.
- Dudley Cornell Park – Municipal athletics facility and two cricket ovals with additional car parking and expanded main oval.
Mayor Robyn Gulline said the study examined current sports participation trends and the advice of local clubs, state governing bodies and industry experts.
"What we have adopted is a plan for the future which will give us the best chance to attract government funding to deliver the modern facilities that our community needs and deserves," she said.
Cr Gulline said the study's adoption meant the preferred location of a regional sporting precinct in Horsham was now resolved following many years of consideration.
"This was a high-level investigation regarding the demand, affordability and strategic alignment of facilities with state level priorities," she said.
"Earlier proposals to build all-in-one regional level facilities at the showgrounds or on farmland at Horsham West were considered. However analysis revealed that a single precinct of regional level facilities for multiple sports is not economically feasible for our municipality. In the case of the Horsham West suggestion, the farmland was simply not for sale.
"The investigation identified that a mix of regional, municipal and local facilities is required to cater for the current and emerging sporting needs of our community and that a distributed model of sporting precincts provides affordable options of upgrades that can be implemented as funding becomes available from external sources," Cr Gulline said.
Local sporting clubs and community groups currently located on sites identified in the study have been consulted and will continue to be engaged as the project is further developed.
Otium Planning Group assisted HRCC with the study. It has more than 28 years of experience and has completed in excess of 1,700 projects in the sport and recreation industry.
"I encourage interested community members to take a look at the feasibility study document for themselves," Cr Gulline said.
