A $35million sporting hub reliant on ratepayer cash has been officially ruled out by the Naracoorte-Lucindale Council.

The council decided in its March meeting to handball the “project lead” back to the sporting clubs involved.

This means the council will assist, but not fund a project, be it $5m, $8m or $10m, and it will be up to the sporting clubs to raise funds, obtain grants and decide on the build themselves.

Following the four-week community consultation from 14 November 2023 to 12 December 2023, council CEO Trevor Smart said elected members were given an overview that focused on two possible project builds for the proposed Naracoorte Regional Sports Centre.

In his written report to the council, Mr Smart highlighted general discussion at the briefing session indicated that:

• It appears not financially viable for council to pursue the $35m project build, comprising a new standalone multi-use sporting complex, and the level of community support is only marginally in support of the project.
• Council could continue to work with sporting clubs and user groups at the Naracoorte and District Sports Centre to progress the smaller project of approximately $8m at the Sports Centre, but not with council as the lead for the project and
• There is an expectation that the sporting clubs and user groups at the Sports Centre will contribute financially towards future development.

As a result of the briefing session, Mr Smart attended a meeting of the Naracoorte and District Sports Centre committee to update members on the discussions.

With the project on council’s agenda since 2019, he recommended that council provide clear direction by formal resolution to the key stakeholders at the Naracoorte and District Sports Centre and wider community to assist with future directions and actions.

Mr Smart recommended that the council:

• Does not pursue the proposed Naracoorte Regional Sports Centre $35m project build.
• Continues to work with the sporting clubs and user groups at the Naracoorte & District Sports Centre to progress future developments at the Sports Centre, on the understanding that the sports committee would be the project lead.
• Advises the sporting clubs and user groups at the sports centre that there is an expectation that they will need to contribute financially towards future developments.
• Continues to investigate concepts of a hybrid indoor aquatic facility at the Naracoorte Swimming Lake.

Mayor Patrick Ross asked elected members if they were willing to look into the recommendations in its entirety or pull them into parts and deal with some in isolation.

Cr Cameron Grundy said: “I think they (recommendations) are quite separate and should be dealt with separately”.

He said he was in favour of recommendations one to three and not in favour of recommendation four.

“So, what do I do, Mayor Ross? Mr Smart, what do I do?” Cr Grundy asked.

“The other thing is, more generally, my question would have been – I think it leaves a question mark on what our commitment will be regarding the $8m build.

“Is this implying that we are going to in fact wait for the sporting centre committee to come to us with a proposition?

“What’s the signal to the public, the ratepayer, and what’s the signal to the sports centre?”

Cr Monique Crossling responded to Cr Grundy.

“To answer Cr Grundy’s question, I had a meeting with sports centre reps,” she said.

“There are five clubs that are willing to take this—as their five clubs, they are very passionate, they want this infrastructure, they want to see something happen.

“They don’t want to let the ball drop, so there are five clubs that are happy to form their own working group and start the process.”

Cr Abigail Goodman said she was pleased to hear that there was interest from the sporting clubs.

“However, I also would like this to be more formally recorded, what the council’s involvement is regarding that,” Cr Goodman said.

“Also, I would like a further discussion around the indoor aquatic facility.

“When we first discussed this, it was my understanding that there was also potentially an outdoor swimming pool that would function during the winter, and people had concerns around it.

“Wouldn’t we all like an indoor pool?”

Cr Peter Ireland suggested the council leave the meeting procedure to have an open discussion on this instead of getting too tied down.

This was agreed to.

Cr Darren Turner said he agreed with the recommendations and that not everyone will be pleased with the outcome.

“I think from the survey, we got a very good response from the community,” Cr Turner said.

“There isn’t support for $35m, so we are wasting people’s time year-after-year if we continue thinking there might be because there isn’t.

“And there is support for going back to the sporting clubs, individual basis, reviewing them, and getting them to make some submissions and contributions.

“I think as much as we want to pull this apart and deal with it separately, I am happy to do that. I also think that the CEO has probably captured pretty close to where we are going to end up if we pull it apart,” Cr Turner said.

Contributing to the discussion, Cr Ireland said he was still confused and worried that the public would be confused about the outcomes.

“Our consultation was about the $35m and the $8m projects with a third or a half funding.

“This does not clarify to me whether ratepayers would still be called on for third funding.

“Perhaps the wording has to be that council is not pursuing either of the proposed project builds but continues to work with the sporting clubs and user groups of the Naracoorte and Districts Sports Centre, with the understanding that council will not take a project lead towards future developments.

“In other words, we are putting them both at rest so that the community knows this $8m project and funding from ratepayers is not going to be forthcoming, and we are there to support the sports clubs and do what we can.”

Responding to the questions from some of the elected members, Mr Smart said what he delivered to the sports centre committee was that the $8m was not totally out of question, but that the council will not be the lead.

“That’s what got delivered. Just for clarity, that doesn’t commit us to one cent, and I don’t know what the future holds.”

Cr Craig McGuire said he supported the four recommendations as one motion, telling the council not to be afraid of the word “investigate” the concept of the indoor facility.

“I do support the CEO, that was our direction. He has captured everything,” Cr McGuire said.

“The only thing is that, as an elected body, we have probably confused the community to a certain degree. I apologise for how I am feeling.

“The $35m we all agreed in the room that we couldn’t afford as a council, but we still went out to the public with that concept.

“I don’t know why.”

He said that as a council, they have not made the journey a smooth one, in fact, it’s been a little messy.

Getting back into formal meeting procedure, the council resolved to take all the points in the recommendation as one motion.

Cr Turner moved the motion, and Cr McGuire seconded it.

As the mover of the motion, Cr Turner said he agreed with the investigation concept of the aquatic centre.

Cr Goodman said after having had the discussions, she was happy to accept recommendation four on the investigation of an indoor facility.

Mayor Ross said the intent was now clear the council was handing it back to not only the individual clubs but also the sporting centre committee to make their own way.

The motion was carried, with all elected members voting in favour.

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.