Flood recovery and resilience at the heart of sporting grants

8 November 2022

Hawkesbury City Council has welcomed the announcement of seven sporting grants from the NSW Government that will be used for flood recovery and improving the flood resilience of local sports grounds.

The $1.33 million in combined funding through the NSW Government’s 2022 Sports Priority Needs Program was announced by Hawkesbury State MP Robyn Preston and Hawkesbury Mayor Sarah McMahon.

Mayor McMahon said the funding would ensure recovery of the Hawkesbury’s most flood impacted sporting fields.

“Sporting fields and facilities play a very important role in the health and wellbeing of locals. Many locals take part in organised sport, and of course we have many people who also enjoy our fields and green spaces for walks and to kick a ball around with mates,” Mayor McMahon said.

“Sporting clubs and the families that rely on them have been hit very hard by six floods in three years. These grants will ensure that they will be able to get back onto the field sooner and enjoy high-quality facilities into the future.”

According to the Hawkesbury Sports Council, 5171 people used sports grounds in the Hawkesbury once a week in 2018/2019. Most teams train twice a week and these figures do not include schools or personal trainers using the grounds.

The projects will include:

Bensons Lane Sporting Complex - $382,940

Remediation of the playing surfaces of eight soccer fields, six baseball diamonds, two Australian Football League fields, two synthetic cricket pitches/wickets and three turf cricket pitches/wickets. Earthworks will also be carried out to clear and concrete the drainage swale to protect the fields from future floods.

Bensons 7 and Owen Earle Oval - $105,825

Installation of drainage systems to Bensons 7 and Owen Earle Oval at the Bensons Lane Sporting Complex.

South Windsor Netball Courts - $366,206

The repair and restoration of the netball courts will improve the resilience of the courts to future extreme weather events such as storms, heat and drought.

Breakaways Oval - $53,104

The sports fields at Breakaways Oval suffered considerable damage from the March 2022 floods. Flood debris and weeds will be removed and the two cricket fields will be restored.

Colbee Park - $156,326

Remediation of the playing fields for the soccer and cricket complex and also the baseball complex

Deerubbin Park - $37,136

Remediation of the playing surfaces of the sporting fields at Deerubbin Park following the March 2022 floods.

Deerubbin Park - $185,136

Removal of the demountable amenities block and construction of a permanent facility, and refurbishment of changerooms and canteen facilities to ensure that these facilities will be resilient to future floods.