There aren't too many complaints coming from Port Macquarie community sporting groups when asked what they would like to see change at Stuart Park.
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It's the second field after Regional Stadium the Port News will feature in a special series of stories which look at the state of some of the sporting fields in the Port Macquarie-Hastings region.
The facility only last month received a $500,000 funding injection from the state government which will help improve lighting as well as improved female change rooms.
They say it's one of the most used venues in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area.
While Port Macquarie Pirates Rugby Union Club president Scott Marks and Port Macquarie Sharks Junior Rugby League president Ben Maher agree on, however, is that the drainage needs urgent works.
It's the only aspect which currently prevents the facility from being used in the same breath as Regional Stadium and Oxley Oval when it comes to game day experiences.
Maher would also like to see some money spent on upgrading and modernising their canteen and clubhouse areas along with more shade structures - particularly on the rugby league side of the facility.
Who uses it: Port Macquarie Pirates Rugby Union Club, Port Macquarie Sharks Junior Rugby League Club, Hastings River District Junior Cricket Association, Port Macquarie Little Athletics Club
What work had been done/is planned: Installation of new lighting to four fields, amenities expansion and upgrades, spectator seating, shelters, footpaths, landscaping improvements, playground installation, bocce court installation, perimeter footpath installation.
What work is needed: Upgrades to drainage, modernised canteen area, fresh paint jobs, more block seating around the junior rugby league field
What the users say
Scott Marks, Port Macquarie Pirates Rugby Union Club president: The training facilities are not quite what we need to be. If we're hosting anything major, like towards the end of this year we're hoping to host a 10s tournament. It would bring between six and 14 sides from out of town who would operate in the whole Stuart's Park area. We would have mixed, women and also men's facilities, but we need drainage to be updated on the Stuart's Park precinct at the moment.
Ben Maher, Port Macquarie Sharks Junior Rugby League president: The canteen has been used in its current form for a fair while so a general tidy up and modernise it a little bit to tie in with everything else. It looks pretty modern around the precinct with all the new shade structures, but the clubhouse still has that stuck in the 80s look about it. We could potentially have a bit more seating on our main field that we play our bigger games on so another row of the block seating similar to what the rugby field's got would be handy.
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