Construction of Glen Willow Stage 2 has officially commenced, with the ceremonial turning of the first sod, which will take the facility to a dozen fields and make it home to two more local sporting clubs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"Expansion plans include two junior rugby league playing fields, two rugby union fields, two multi-purpose fields, a junior rugby league amenities building, rugby union amenities building as well as infrastructure including car parking facilities, roads, lighting and fencing," Mayor of the Mid-Western Region, Des Kennedy, said.
"So what we're doing now is obviously for the youth of our own region - one-stop, Mum and Dad come out in the morning, one kid plays soccer, one rugby league, one rugby union, and the girls play netball."
Cr Kennedy added that the increased capacity of the complex would also enable it to host major tournaments and school carnivals that go to the likes of Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie.
"Then we can tender for the big touch football, age rugby league, and soccer carnivals, that usually come on a Monday and go on a Thursday, with their parents and families coming and filling the town," he said.
Federal Member for Calare, Andrew Gee, and Council secured $6.95 million through the Federal Government's Building Better Region's Fund - Infrastructure Projects stream to deliver the $13.9 million project.
The project is also expected to create 28 jobs during construction - which will be completed by early 2021 - and 36 ongoing jobs in the community.
Since construction of Stage 1, over 160,000 spectators have attended major sporting events and local games at Glen Willow, with 8,000 locals participating in sport at the venue each year.
"The economic impact of Glen Willow since it opened has been about $24 million into the Mudgee area - so it has been absolutely huge," Mr Gee said.
"It really is the gold standard of regional sporting facilities, not only in NSW but also Australia. And everyone who comes here - from the professional sporting bodies to the amateurs - talk about how great the facility is.
"And Stage 2 is a very exciting, new phase of Glen Willow. It's going to give this facility another boost and open it up to more people to get involved in local sport.
"Plus bring more people to the area, because we know that when Mudgee hosts big carnivals you can't get a motel room. And that's the economic impact, even though we have the headline sporting events here, like the NRL, the big money is in the tournaments when associations come from all over NSW."
- An update report for Glen Willow Stage 2 was put to Council at their December meeting on Wednesday evening and can be viewed here.