2020 Community Facilities Update – AFL NSW/ACT

As we near the end of a year and community football season like no other, AFL NSW/ACT is proud to have completed over 8,050 games, with our regional community clubs maintaining 97% of their pre-COVID participation levels.  

In late 2019, we officially opened our first senior size and purpose-built AFL synthetic oval at Gore Hill Oval, St Leonards.

More information on the $10m redevelopment of Gore Hill Park can be found HERE. This project was the inaugural National winner of the AFL’s Ken Gannon Community Football Project of the Year Award.  

These projects were only possible due to the ongoing support and investment from local councils, the NSW Government, Australian Federal Government, local community clubs and the Australian Football Community Football Facilities Fund.  

These projects achieve our shared objective to create innovate and multi-purpose public spaces that are welcoming and inclusive, but more broadly connect and inspire communities to lead a healthy lifestyle. Increasing the capacity through playing surface improvements, lighting upgrades, or ensuring they have inclusive changerooms and amenities enhances the experience for players, volunteers and families.  

During 2020 we have seen the following significant projects delivered:

Venue	Council	Project	Contributors	For more information
Allinsure Oval, Queanbeyan	Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council	New amenities building  Solar panels	NSW Government  AFL NSW/ACT  Federal Government	https://www.tigersclub.com.au/post/allinsure-park-upgrades-officially-opened
Balgowlah Oval, Balgowlah	Northern Beaches Council	New amenities building	Northern Beaches Council  NSW Government  AFL NSW/ACT	https://yoursay.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/Balgowlah_oval_amenities?utm_source=northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au&utm_medium=301&utm_campaign=Website
Berrambool Oval, Merimbula	Bega Valley Council	New lighting	NSW Government  Bega Valley Shire Council  AFL NSW/ACT
Brockelsby Recreation Ground, Brockelsby	Greater Hume Shire	Function Room	NSW Government  User Groups  AFL NSW/ACT
Don Small Oval, Tacoma	Central Coast Council	New amenities building	Central Coast Council  NSW Government  Federal Government  AFL NSW/ACT	https://www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/council/news/media-releases/don-small-ovals-sportsground-amenities-building-open-business
Howlong	Federation Council	Amenity upgrade	NSW Government  Federation Council  Howlong Football Club  Howlong community  AFL NSW/ACT	https://www.federationcouncil.nsw.gov.au/News-Media/Howlong-Multipurpose-Hall-and-Gymnasium-on-track
Jubilee Oval, Broken Hill	Broken Hill City Council	Upgrade of amenities  Upgrade of grandstand	NSW Government  Broken Hill City Council  AFL NSW/ACT
Lavington Sports Ground, Albury	Albury City Council	2nd oval  Upgraded player amenities  Upgraded spectator amenities	Albury City Council  Federal Government  AFL NSW/ACT  User Groups	https://www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/lavington-sports-ground-redevelopment
Lionel Watts Reserve, Frenchs Forest	Northern Beaches Council	Synthetic field  Additional and upgrade player amenities	Northern Beaches Council  NSW Government  2017/18 Asian Cup Legacy Fund  AFL NSW/ACT  User Groups	https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/council/news/now-thats-keeper-new-western-amenities-block-lionel-watts-reserve
South Kempsey Oval	Kempsey Shire Council	New lighting	Commonwealth Gov.  NSW Government  Kempsey Shire Coun.  AFL NSW/ACT	https://aflnorthcoast.com.au/2020/08/20/south-kempsey-oval-lights-up/
WH Wagener Oval, Ashbury	Canterbury Bankstown Council	Complete field renovation  Lighting upgrade  New amenities building  New playground	Canterbury Bankstown Council  NSW Government (ClubGrants)  AFL NSW/ACT
Weldon Oval, Curl Curl	Northern Beaches Council	Amenity upgrade  Scoreboard	NSW Government  AFL NSW/ACT  Cricket NSW  User Groups

The above projects have all been eligible for the NSW/ACT winner of the 2020 Ken Gannon Community Football Facilities Project of the Year Award. 

This award is based around the projects ability to positively impact on Australian Football participation, and its alignment with the Australian Football Facility Funds aims and objectives. 

The NSW/ACT winner will be announced later this month. 

We look forward to continuing to support our local clubs in partnership with all levels of Government to deliver quality community projects that provide changerooms for girls and boys equally, lighting projects so our community parks can be used to full capacity, playing surface upgrades so grounds do not get closed and our clubs play more games of football.  

We welcome the recent $100m announcement from the NSW Government to create a new Greater Cities and Regional Sports Facility Fund.

It is critical that neighbourhood parks and sporting facilities are upgraded over the coming years, not only to create jobs and support the economy to rebuild following the impacts of COVID, but to also support local communities to be resilient, active, and connected.    

We are enthusiastic to deliver a full season in 2021, continuing to invest in community infrastructure in partnership with all levels of government and industry, and we are committed to enhancing the experience for all those who enjoy both community AFL and great public spaces. 

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