High-ball in Labor’s court

Promise for Creek sporting centre

LABOR has promised to build a $6m regional “high-ball” centre at Armstrong Creek if it wins the federal election.

The facility, earmarked for the Armstrong Creek town centre, would be capable of hosting state and regional tournaments across basketball, netball, badminton and volleyball, Labor said.

Corangamite Labor MP Libby Coker said the facility would help address the lag in sport and community infrastructure in Armstrong Creek and provide an opportunity for the area to host regional tournaments.

“This is a really exciting project and a milestone in the development of the township of Armstrong Creek,” Ms Coker said.

“It will make up part of the character of Armstrong Creek for years to come into the future.

“It will be a place where hundreds of local families, the kids and the mums and dads, come together, meet each other and make friendships.

“That’s the great thing about community sports and why I’m so keen to support these projects.

“The facility will also be a host facility for regional and possibly statewide tournaments where kids can see the elite players and get inspired.”

A $15m regional high-ball centre is included on the G21 – Geelong Region Alliance’s extensive priority list.

Ms Coker said the promised facility would provide for demand for sporting facilities created in Grovedale, Waurn Ponds and Torquay.

The population of Greater

Geelong is due to top 393,000 by 2041, according to demographic service. idcommunity.

This figure includes more than 25,000 people at Armstrong Creek and more than 15,000 at Mt Duneed by 2041.

The population in those suburbs in 2022 is 10,800 and 5160.

An Indoor Recreation Facilities Strategy report prepared for Geelong council by the SGL Consulting Group in 2014 found the City of Greater Geelong area had one indoor court per 6510 people.

At the time, that was lower than the 1:6666 in the City of Frankston.

By contrast, the City of Ballarat then had an indoor court to population ratio of 1:3133.

Labor said the need for a new indoor facility in the Geelong region had existed for years.