City’s Games village wishlist

Nine possible sites mooted for Games, plan to convert to housing

THE City of Greater Geelong has put forward a list of nine possible locations for a Commonwealth Games athletes’ village.

Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan said he could not share specifics of the mooted locations but said the athletes’ village would need to be in central Geelong for easy access to transport and venues. The state government last month confirmed Geelong would be one of four regional hubs for the 2026 Games, with up to 2950 athletes to be housed in an athletes’ village.

“We’ve surveyed an extensive area of possible sites, and we’ve chatted to the state government,” Mr Sullivan said.

THE City of Greater Geelong has put forward a list of nine possible locations for a Commonwealth Games athletes’ village to be built in the inner city, a council leader has revealed.

While Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan said he could not share specifics of the mooted locations, he did confirm the athletes village would need to be in central Geelong to have easy access to transport and venues.

The state government last month confirmed Geelong would be one of four regional hubs for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with up to 2950 athletes and officials set to be housed in an athletes’ village.

Mr Sullivan said building the village would create jobs and a local economic boom, while also providing “muchneeded affordable housing for our region”.

“We’ve surveyed an extensive area of possible sites, and we’ve chatted to the state government about that,” he said.

“We’ve come up with a list of nine so far, but we’re not going to name them because it’s a confidential process going with the state government.

“What is really important to us is, coming out of this, wherever we build this new accommodation, it’s in a place which can help service the community going forward with social housing, low-cost housing and good connections to services and facilities.

“We want to make sure wherever the village is, it’s not just for the Games, and it services Geelong after that.”

Mr Sullivan said the city wanted to ensure planning and the construction of an athletes’ village was not left to the last minute, and would work with the state government to ensure works would begin as soon as it was practical to do so.

The state government last week unveiled its 2022-23 budget, including $2.6bn to prepare the state to host the 2026 Games. The city will host T20 cricket matches at Kardinia Park, along with aquatics, para swimming, beach volleyball, gymnastics, hockey, table tennis, para table tennis, triathlon and para triathlon at yet to be determined venues.

The state government will work with stakeholders to assess what further infrastructure upgrades will be required to host Games events.

WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WHEREVER THE VILLAGE IS IT’S NOT JUST FOR THE GAMES AND IT SERVICES GEELONG AFTER THAT.”

DEPUTY MAYOR TRENT SULLIVAN