Oval redevelopment pushed back as clubs negotiate

A $900,000 redevelopment of the amenities at Woy Woy's Austin Butler Oval has been pushed back to November as the football, cricket and tennis clubs negotiate with Council over the location and design of the new building.

Work was due to commence in October and be complete by April 2018.

The $900,000 project was expected to incorporate the construction of a new shared amenities building including change rooms, canteen, fully accessible toilets, referees' room, clubhouse and storage.

Austin Butler Oval adjoins Woy Woy Tennis Centre and both facilities have significantly aged infrastructure, according to club officials.

Southern Spirit Cricket Club and Woy Woy Football Club share the playing surface.

All three sporting clubs have been working collaboratively with Council to redevelop the building infrastructure.

Council originally planned to remove two existing buildings and replace them with a new multipurpose building developed to service the needs of all three sporting codes.

"The new building will be relocated in a highly-visible and common area which will occupy most of the existing sportsground building site to provide adequate facility parking," Central Coast Council announced when it declared that the community had voted for the project as one of its "top 10" to be funded by the NSW Government.

Woy Woy Tennis Club president Mr Tony Carey said the club's members had "100 per cent rejected" Council's initial concept plan for the redevelopment.

"The tennis club would have lost its independent amenities and members would have had to walk outside our secure area to use the amenities," Mr Carey said.

The club started an online campaign to encourage members to contact Council with their feedback.

As a result of the campaign, Mr Carey said he had met with Council on Tuesday, August 1, and had received a "very good response".

He said the tennis club's existing building was constructed in the 1960s.

It runs along the courts and has a generous veranda, with storage, office space and limited kitchen facilities.

"As we went further into the planning, Council was looking at a joint amenities building worth about $500,000 and the other $400,000 was to be spent on parking," Mr Carey said.

"We are now hoping we get some sort of equity with the grant funding."

Mr Carey said the three sporting organisations were "very much allies in this".

"We all want to work towards a great outcome for the community.

"Council definitely has listened and they have awoken to the idea that this means much more to the community than they thought," Mr Carey said.

The tennis club had 200 members and its facilities were used almost every fine day of the year, he said.

Council owned the facility but Woy Woy Tennis Club was the community licensee.

Austin Butler Oval currently supports soccer, oz tag and cricket.

Twelve schools also use the facilities for sport and gala days.

Woy Woy Football Club secretary Ms Dawn Butler said Council had also held a meeting with the football club on the morning of Wednesday, August 2.

The oval is serviced by a very basic brick building but it is located across the car park from the fields

The building includes a basic canteen, pergola, toilets and storage

Ms Butler said: "We are hoping for an amenities building that suites our needs and is closer to the playing grounds."

She said the football and tennis clubs would continue to work together with Council to ensure the project commenced in November, with completion by June 2018.

According to Council, the development was intended to be its first joint use facility between a tennis club and sporting clubs such as soccer, Oz Tag and cricket.

"Rationalisation of the buildings will demonstrate ongoing cost savings in electricity and water consumption," according to Council's "yourvoiceourcoast.com" website.

"The project will provide the community with a safer, more useable and environmentally-friendly facility to provide vital sporting and recreation opportunities for those in this community who need it most."

"Woy Woy, with its surrounding suburbs, ranks within the bottom four suburbs on the Socio Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Disadvantaged Index of the former Gosford Local Government Area," according to the website.

"This suggests a need for the provision of quality facilities to support low-cost or no-cost recreation opportunities for the local community.

"The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey undertaken in 2011 collected information on the participation of children aged four to 14 years in organised sport for a year.

"Overall about half the children played an organised sport during that period.

"Woy Woy has an ATSI population of 3.6 per cent further demonstrating the need to provide quality facilities for sporting opportunities," Council's online description of the project said,

The amenities, located at 37 Chambers Place, Woy Woy, were voted as one of the top 10 projects the community believed needed to be funded under the Stronger Communities Fund.

The Stronger Communities Fund was provided for community projects as part of the amalgamation of Gosford with Wyong Council.

It is being handed out in three tranches and the $900,000 for Austin Butler Oval and the Tennis amenities was provided in the first round.

The project received a total of 1156 votes.

SOURCES:

Website, 1 Aug 2017

Yourvoiceourcoast.com

Interview, 1 Aug 2017

Tony Carey, Woy Woy Tennis Club

Interview, 2 Aug 2017

Dawn Butler, Woy Woy Football Club

Reporter: Jackie Pearson