Lake Macquarie councillors are expected to endorse a planning agreement (PA) for a major residential development that will deliver $22.6 million in recreation facilities.
Developer Winten (No. 21) Pty Ltd was granted consent in December 2023 by the Hunter Central Coast Regional Planning Panel to build a 1058-lot residential subdivision at 10 Woodford Street, in Cameron Park, just north of the Newcastle Link Road.
As part of the development application, Winten has proposed to provide two local parks and playgrounds with a shared pathway within the housing estate.
In addition, Lake Macquarie City Council is charging Winten about $12,000 per lot under the PA, which equates to $13.8 million for sporting facilities outside the estate.
The council will spend the $13.8 million on the creation of two new sports fields at 10 Turnbull Street in Edgeworth, plus car parking and amenities, and on two new hard courts and upgrades to two existing hard courts with floodlights at Gregory Park in West Wallsend.
The proposed Turnbull Street grounds are four kilometres from the Winten estate, and Gregory Park is five kilometres away.
The funding will also be used to provide public amenities or services within the north-western and central-northern suburbs of Lake Macquarie.
A spokesperson for the council said the locations were chosen to cater to the predicted growth demands for netball and football facilities.
"Previous planning for the area identified the potential for a new sports ground at Turnbull Street to meet the future sporting needs of the growing community," the spokesperson said.
"Gregory Park at 19 Hyndes Street currently has two netball courts, with the capacity to accommodate additional demand generated by future development.
"The site for this new facility at 10 Turnbull Street, Edgeworth, is relatively close to Winten's new development and has capacity to accommodate the sports grounds required under Winten's development consent."
Asked when Lake Macquarie ratepayers should expect to see the sports facilities delivered, the spokesperson said: "A timeline for these projects will be determined once detailed planning and design are complete.
"They will then be added to our 10-year capital works program."
The two local parks within the Winten housing estate will be 7397 square metres and 5827.6 square metres and are required to have play equipment, a grassed kick-about area, pathways, park furniture, one tap and bubbler, one maintenance tap, bike racks, waste and recycling bins, landscaping, trees and vehicle control.
The draft PA with Winten was on public exhibition from May 8 to June 7 this year, and received three submissions in opposition.
Two were from residents concerned about traffic and the lack of public transport, while the City of Newcastle made a submission against the location of the facilities.
In November 2023, Newcastle's Labor councillors Deahnna Richardson, Elizabeth Adamczyk and Declan Clausen called for the "foremost consideration" to be placed on the needs of future residents when deciding on the location of the sporting facilities rather than the "interests of any individual council".
The Winten estate is close to Newcastle's south-western border.
