Basketball and pickleball courts, a dedicated toddler area, expanded pathways, a small dog off-leash area, a new commercial space and hundreds of additional car parks could be part of the future development of Speers Point Park.
Councillors unanimously endorsed placing Lake Macquarie City Council's 15-year vision for the regional park on public exhibition at Monday night's meeting.
The draft plan of management and master plan will be submitted to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for approval before being placed on public exhibition for at least 42 days.
Labor North Ward councillor Brian Adamthwaite described the park as "the recreational jewel within the city", while Labor mayor Adam Shultz said it was "the premier park in the Hunter. The best by a country mile."
The park's popularity is also causing pressure points.
The lack of car parking and traffic snarls around Speers Point Park were the biggest concerns raised in the 559 survey responses taken across two periods of consultation.
The draft master plan proposes to create an additional 375 car spaces - 170 along internal access roads, 55 near the multi-arts pavilion, 100 around a redeveloped Speers Point Swim Centre and 50 formalised spaces around New Tredinnick Oval.
Labor North Ward councillor Keara Conroy said she held concerns about building pickleball courts as it could be deemed a "fad sport", but welcomed the focus on improved car parking.
"We keep trying to put more things into Speers Point Park," Cr Conroy said.
"We have football running while swimming carnivals are running while the boating season is on and a lot of people are trying to use the regional sporting facilities all at the same time.
"Having a significant amount of extra parking is really required. I'm less optimistic about whether we'll get the NSW government to support changing the signalling at that [Park Road and Five Islands Road] intersection, so I worry we might be committing ourselves to works when we can't control the traffic in that area, as we're not the decision-making authority for The Esplanade."
The three basketball courts, pickleball courts, parkour walls and dedicated toddler area are proposed at the western end of the existing playground.
The Speers Point Park playground is often described as the Hunter's best, but the surveys identified a gap in providing facilities for teenagers/youth and toddlers.
The plan also proposes relocating the German Minenwerfer mortar gun alongside new pathways for better visibility and a potential relocation and upgrades to the war memorial area.
The upgrades are estimated to cost $38.7 million.
Car parking is valued at $11.5 million, sports amenities and associated car parks $6.9 million, park infrastructure and pathways $5.2 million, heritage precinct improvements $4 million, commercial opportunities infrastructure $3.9 million, a play and active recreation area $3.2 million, park lighting $2.6 million, an arts trail and cultural garden $1.2 million and a dog park for smaller dogs $225,000.
Liberal North Ward councillor Jack Antcliff questioned whether the investment should be shared across other Lake Macquarie public spaces that are struggling to attract events.
"We are talking about going to go and invest big dollars, or we're proposing a plan which is going to cost the best part of $40 million in today's dollars when we're also having a conversation around whether Speers Point's at capacity and whether realistically we should be pushing for investment elsewhere," Cr Antcliff said.
"That's probably where my head is at. Is the vision building something just for the sake of building it, rather than building something that attracts people and increases the utilisation?
"I'm a little bit on the fence with it."
Liberal West Ward councillor Jason Pauling also held concerns about the level of funding considered for Speers Point Park.
"It's hard for me to say hand on heart, as I'm a representative of and an advocate for the forgotten nether regions of western Lake Macquarie, which is already dirty about the amount of money that is already pumped into that area," Cr Pauling said.
"I've got no problem with consultation, no problem with exhibition, and I've got no problem with moving forward and planning. The big however is when the rubber hits the road and we're looking for support, for me to say, 'Yep, $38 million, let's go' - that's going to be a problem for me."
Cr Adamthwaite said councillors and the public should not get "hung up" about the potential cost, as it could derail forming the best possible outcome.
He also argued that Speers Point Park is the most central location in Lake Macquarie.
"It's in the north ward, it's spitting distance from west ward and you can see east ward from it," Cr Adamthwaite said.
"It's one of the locations where you do have the possibility of connectivity with the poor public transport we have.
"If anything, the issue we have, the greatest problem, is its success. If we don't have a plan, how do we manage its success? How do we manage that improvement into the future?"
