Councillor John Thain says Penrith needs a major new sports centre to cater for the growing community. 

Source: The Western Weekender 14th Oct, 2020

Calls for the establishment of a large state-of-the-art indoor sports stadium are being made to future-proof our “sports mad” city.

With Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre (PVRSC) at capacity and Penrith’s population booming, Councillor John Thain is urging Penrith Council to seriously consider a new multi-purpose facility. He said the city needs an indoor stadium with 14 or 16 courts that had scope for future growth.

“Even once the [PVRSC] renovations are done, we are still only at six courts and they are already at capacity,” he said.

“I think for the future… we really need to look at a site somewhere in the city that is going to accommodate not just basketball, volleyball, futsal and all the other sports that are already occurring at Cambridge Park, but also netball as well.”

Cr Thain suggested planning should start immediately.

“You don’t want to get to the stage in five or 10 years of ‘why haven’t you done this’,” he said.

“We want to actually be thinking about it strategically now and finding an appropriate site and have some plans ready to go.”

Cr Thain, who sits on the PVRSC board as Council’s representative, said further expanding the existing complex, which opened as a four-court stadium in 1989, was not viable due to the site’s position.

“All we can do at the stadium we’ve got is make the amenity a little better, change rooms and bathrooms and those kinds of things,” he said.

While unsure where the new stadium would go, Cr Thain said a feasibility study should be done and all sports should have their say.

“It would make sense to have one indoor centre which could not only be used for sports, but exhibitions and that had a suitable seating arena that we could do other things in there as well,” he said.

As for funding, Cr Thain said it may require the backing of all levels of government.

“You could have part of it as a VRA, part of it as a State and Federal grant and a Council grant combined,” he suggested.

Meanwhile, PVRSC will likely remain closed for another 12 to 14 weeks after a fire hydrant pipe ruptured and spewed water under the concrete slab requiring courts 3 and 4 to be replaced.

The leak was estimated to be spewing about 9,600 litres per day under the concrete slab. PVRSC was due to re-open on October 9 following its closure for renovations in March.