Port Macquarie-Hastings sports clubs express frustration around space and fields in the region after Tuffins Lane saga

Issues have been raised by a number of sporting clubs and associations regarding the future of sport in the region and how it can best proceed.

Their concerns are around a number of main issues.

The sports community believe there are not enough fields, while future NSW Touch Association Junior and Senior State Cup events in the region face an uncertain future.

Should the worst happen, it could leave a $20million hole in the economy should they be taken elsewhere.

Only last week council recognised the need to again prioritise sporting fields which was advertised on councillor Nik Lipovak's Facebook page and the issue was put back on council's agenda.

Rugby league, rugby union, touch football, oztag and soccer clubs have all been impacted at varying levels.

Other concerns have been raised about the lighting at Stuart Park, while the Lank Bain Sporting Complex upgrade has been delayed and delayed with two more junior fields to be built out there.

This still hasn't happened and the clubs using the space continue to struggle with second-rate facilities.

Then there is the Camden Haven equestrian facility and sports field complex at Laurieton which was planned for a number of years ago out near the Pacific Highway.

It wasn't equestrian-specific, it was a general sport project that incorporated equestrian and was supposed to meet the needs of expanding sport in the south of the region.

And finally the Port Macquarie Aquatic Centre is on the move next door to Macquarie Park, but where are those football fields being moved to?

Where is the replacement of one full size and two junior size sports fields in the plan?

The Rainbow Beach Sporting Fields have also hit a roadblock along with the Thrumster football facility and along with the Hastings Regional Sporting Complex, all have been in the planning stage for a number of years.

Where are they up to now?

If they were re-prioritised, why were they and by who, and were the sports community consulted?

In 2021 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's sport and recreation officer resigned and since then the council put in an administration officer instead who dealt with the approval of sports field usage only.

Was this enough at a time when sports field usage issues were becoming a major concern in the region?

The sports community think the council needed to increase staffing not decrease it and it has now reached a tipping point in the sporting community.

Where do we go from here?

As a community, how should the council manage the future growth of Port Macquarie sports when there is barely enough space now as it is.

Fields are not being built to manage future demand so the question is are the current projects even enough to meet current demands?

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