Macedon Ranges sports clubs, community groups and their supporters are rejoicing after the council endorsed the concept of a Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Hub.
The council has vowed to seek funding for the $28 million hub to be built on the corner of Barringo and Hamilton roads New Gisborne.
It will combine the sports hub with the $14.2 New Gisborne Regional Sportsfields project, currently being planned for the same site, to form a new project known as the Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Precinct.
Hub campaigner Megan Condron told Star Weekly everyone behind the project was “so relieved” by the “really good outcome”.
She said the council’s decision last week embraced the collaborative effort of Macedon Ranges groups to achieve the sports hub and was a crucial step in seeing it built.
The community has pushed for a regional sports hub to be built in New Gisborne for more than two years to overcome a shortage of sports facilities.
The Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Hub Feasibility Study, released in February, was federally funded in response to a community campaign in 2016.
Ms Condron said Gisborne Bulldogs Basketball Club had turned away up to 20 players because of a lack of space.
The feasibility study highlights a shortage of indoor sports courts in the Macedon Ranges and predicts the deficit will rise to 16 courts by 2036 if no new courts are added to the existing eight.
It suggests the indoor sports hub be built across two stages at the New Gisborne site.
The council will consider funding $6 million of the $18 million needed for stage one of the hub and will seek funding of $6 million each from the state and federal governments.
Ms Condron said the community and the council needed to enthusiastically lobby for funding in the lead-up to the state and federal elections.
The council will work jointly with community groups involved in both the sports hub and sportsfields projects to secure funding.
