“It’s been five years in the making and the whole club is looking forward to having the new facility,” he said. 

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council acting group manager Gary Hill said the second multi-purpose field at Wayne Richards Park is scheduled for completion in April 2017. 

At the moment the club has one field, which is utilised Wednesday through to Sunday. 

Mr Winterton said having the new facility will accommodate for growing numbers of club membership. 

“At the moment we’re experiencing an increase of 10 per cent growth a year and we’ve had lots of interest from families who want to get into the sport to connect with the community,” he said. 

The sport is credited by Mr Winterton as being one where boys and girls can compete equally on a skills basis.

Mr Hill said the new field will have a synthetic turf surface and can also be utilised by groups other than hockey, for recreational use.

“The new field will be a high quality facility catering for school use, club training and weekly fixtures, whilst being of standard that can attract elite level regional, state and national competition,” Mr Hill said. 

“Hockey is a popular growth sport within the Port Macquarie-Hastings region, the second field will support this growth and add to the many wonderful facilities available to our sporting community.”

The facility will also cater for those who have mobility issues as surrounding kerbing, footpaths and ramps will be included in the development.

In addition, a field backstop and site security fencing will be provided, with emergency access via Hockey Place.