Hastings Secondary College Port Macquarie Campus will be home to the purpose-built facility which will be used by college students, Port Macquarie Clontarf Academy, other young people and the broader community.

The state government on February 4 announced $7.5 million to establish a PCYC at the Owen Street site.

The PCYC is earmarked for the lower oval area.

The $7.5 million, together with financial contributions from the NSW Department of Education and PCYC NSW, will provide two indoor basketball courts, a gymnastics space, a multi-purpose performing arts centre, training areas, change rooms, shared community program spaces and a community and youth hub.

PCYC NSW chief executive officer Dominic Teakle said the Port Macquarie PCYC could be a game changer in respect to how the PCYC viewed community partnerships with schools.

“Having a facility which operates all year-round within a school is really making the best use of the facilities for the community,” he said.

Mr Teakle said the future use would all be about scheduling and cooperation between the school and PCYC.

The PCYC will be responsible for the building maintenance and its operation.

Two police youth case managers will work out of the PCYC.

The state government’s initial $2.5 million funding announcement to reinstate a PCYC in Port Macquarie dates back to 2012 but the then plan to include a PCYC in Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s expanded Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium reached an impasse in 2015.

The state government recommitted the $2.5 million in October 2017 to a PCYC on the grounds of Hastings Secondary College Port Macquarie Campus.

The $7.5 million announced on February 4 is through the state government’s Regional Communities Development Fund.

Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams acknowledged there had been some challenges along the way but said a PCYC at Hastings Secondary College Port Macquarie Campus was a much better outcome.

She said it was a better site which provided better access, not only for the school, but for others too.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro said the PCYC was a proven model.

“With the Department of Education, with the police, with the PCYC and the broader community, you get to create a space for young people that is safe, one that is nurturing and one that allows them to prosper,” he said.

Mr Barilaro said the state government funding was not an election commitment.

“This is money in the bank,” he said.

Hastings Secondary College Port Macquarie Campus acting principal Geoff Duck said there would be the opportunity for college students to use the facility.

“That will operate in school hours and there will be an opportunity for students to access the facility after-hours in terms of the PCYC program,” he said.

Community consultation and the lodgement of a development application will be among the next steps.

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