WAIKERIE needs a two-court stadium if it wishes to cater for any future development, according to the local netball club’s president.
Waikerie Netball Club president Naomi Campbell is calling upon Loxton Waikerie council to consider a two-court option as part of its current Community Sports Centre public consultation.
“Our main concern is that without a second court in the stadium, we actually end up turning people away,” she said.
“It’s great that council are looking at doing something, but we are concerned it’s a Band-Aid fix for now and not planning for the future for the town.
“We need to put money back into the town, into the infrastructure and into the assets of the town to ensure we have what it needs to encourage people to come and move here.”
Loxton Waikerie council is seeking feedback on the plan, which includes a redevelopment of the existing building to accommodate a full-sized basketball/netball court.
The plan also includes a new ground level multi-use area, spectator seating, new kiosk, ground level gallery/viewing, storage and new wet area amenities to support the Waikerie Swimming Pool.
Ms Campbell said the netball club would provide feedback asking council to “look at the big picture”.
“Not so much for the immediate needs now, but we are hoping the town is going to grow,” she said.
“To me, my favourite quote is, ‘build it and they will come’.”
Ms Campbell said the current stadium poses a number of safety risks.
“I don’t believe it is up to occupational health and safety standards because (the court) doesn’t have enough run-off,” she said.
“There’s also issues with it leaking and I know they keep fixing it, but it keeps leaking.
“Even just a few weeks ago, there was a nail sitting up in one of the floorboards.”
Ms Campbell also raised concerns about the down-time due to construction of a new sporting facility in Waikerie.
“It is a more of a concern how long construction may take and what happens if it goes into a second season,” she said.
While Waikerie Netball Club is currently without an A1 side, Ms Campbell said she hoped that would soon change.
“We hope to build the netball club back up to have an A1 and A2 team,” she said.
District Council of Loxton Waikerie director of commercial and community services Andrew Waters said the public consultation was designed to draw out feedback – both positive and negative.
“We want feedback from the community, especially user groups,” he said.
“If their opinion is that they want two courts, then we want to hear from them.”
Mr Waters said user groups should stipulate the need for a two-court stadium in their submissions.
“We want to hear why and how many members and if the clubs are growing,” he said.
“From our point of view, that is why we are going to community consultation – to get feedback.”
Mr Waters said once feedback is collated, a plan will be made “shovel-ready” for grant funding.
“This has been talked about for a number of years and if we don’t go down this process, in five years’ time, things will still be the same,” he said.
“But, if we get the consultation process done, some engineering plans and scoping… from a grant writing point of view, we can say, ‘Yep, here’s our drawings, here’s our plans and the exact costings’.”
To view the draft Waikerie Community Sports Centre plan, visit the website (loxtonwaikerie.sa.gov.au).
Written submissions and feedback should be forwarded to PO Box 409, Loxton SA 5333 or council@lwdc.sa.gov.au by 5pm on Friday, July 30.