Plans continually stalled

SIR, – Reading the front page of The Weekly Advertiser, April 20, 2022, the concept of ‘Regional Cities sharing a Commonwealth Games’ has been a part of the advocacy by Regional Cities Victoria for at least eight years.

The lack of modern, safe community sporting facilities in Horsham is not the fault of state or federal governments.

Successive councils have worked hard to get the community enthused about new, modern, safe facilities for indoor and outdoor sport since the condition of these assets was highlighted in the Sport and Recreation Strategy of 2004-05 – and each one ever since.

The State Government is keen to support councils who do the planning, with the full support of potential user groups of multiuse facilities.

The only two examples of high-quality regional city community facilities in Horsham, as stated, are Horsham Town Hall and the Horsham Aquatic Centre.

The new generation of Horsham residents may well be interested in the plans for a three-court multi-use indoor sports stadium from 2016 – which sit in a council drawer.

Designed with enthusiastic State Government support, the project is stalled.

The opportunities are there, waiting to be seized.

Many long-term residents and the local media know how hard it is to progress Horsham into the future. It requires pluck and patience. Mark Radford Quantong