Fresh timeline for Orange Sports Precinct

Central Western Daily

WATCH: Sam Farraway discusses a fresh timeline for construction of the Orange Sports Precinct.

Transcript

00:00 A question for Mr Farraway. You mentioned you met with Jason Hamling about the sports stadium.

00:05 Did he provide any update about a timeline where it might be fully operational?

00:08 We witnessed firsthand this morning that the civil contractors are decommissioning their temporary

00:16 offices and their temporary sites. This means that all the bulk civil earthworks are essentially

00:22 complete. We can start to see the outline of where the athletics infrastructure and the athletics

00:28 track will be. We're looking at hopefully throughout the next 12 months we will start to

00:35 see the athletics infrastructure really come to life. I think the build from Jason's advice this

00:41 morning, another 18 months before we're going to see the stadium complete, but again it is just so

00:48 good. After the work that has gone into that project, two councils, two mayors and a very

00:55 resilient community here to see this through, that is going to be a significant piece of legacy

01:00 infrastructure that will enhance the liveability and offering right here in the village.

01:05 And Mudgie and Dubbo have recently lost their NRL games for various reasons. Is there a worry

01:10 that the time it's taking to build this sports stadium might see the NRL lose interest in the

01:15 Central West? No I don't think so. You've seen the Penrith Panthers continue to lock in in Bathurst,

01:21 the longevity and sustainability of hosting some of their home games here in the Central West.

01:26 I have said since 2019 when I entered Parliament and started representing this part of the

01:31 community as an Upper House MP, that the future is to make sure that every town that has this

01:37 significant infrastructure creates their own pathway with that infrastructure, whether it's

01:44 football, soccer, whether it's rugby union possibly here in Orange. We can't all compete for the exact

01:51 same match and game and sporting code, but there are multiple sporting codes and what is really

01:57 important to identify in what we're building here in Orange is that there is a massive shortage of

02:04 athletics, tracks and infrastructure throughout Sydney. This infrastructure, I believe in time,

02:11 will get booked out most weekends and attract more families, more championships, more athletics,

02:17 carnivals here in Orange. And all those families, they need to stay somewhere, they need to eat out

02:23 somewhere, they need to be able to use the amenities here and I think that that will

02:27 continue to create Orange as a tourism hub and a sustainable tourism hub, but as well

02:33 as the destination that Orange has become. And you mentioned 18 months, hopefully before the

02:39 major rugby league field is built. Can we expect to see the NRL schedule in say 2026 feature an

02:46 Orange location? Who knows, who knows? I would love to see a bit of A-league out here as well.

02:52 Orange is also very well known for rugby union. I'd love to see a TARS game, a Brumbies game.

02:58 I'd love to see a women's game out here as well, but there is huge opportunity around soccer,

03:05 as they would say football, but there's huge opportunity for that here as well. And what

03:10 Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo and the Central West have done well over the last five years in particular

03:16 is carving out their own pathway, not competing against each other on the exact same sporting

03:22 code or the exact same sporting match. That's where it's going to be sustainable for this region

03:27 and this new facility is going to offer so much more opportunity for little athletics,

03:33 for local athletics, but also those carnivals and that injection of funding back into the

03:38 accommodation, into the tourism sector, in the local CBD and streets here. And you mentioned

03:44 soccer. You must have been disappointed to see the Wanderers pull out of their Bathurst clash

03:48 the other day? Yes, people in Bathurst are a little bit disappointed to see that. They're

03:52 obviously rescheduling where that venue will be. It'll obviously won't be in the Central West, but

03:57 I say to Council, I say to the sporting codes and organising bodies throughout the Central West,

04:02 don't give up. We need to keep attracting those gains to our regions. We know they work, we know

04:08 they activate our local economies and we know people love and enjoy the country hospitality

04:15 that is on offer right through the Central West, whether it's Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Mudgie,

04:20 it doesn't matter. We all have our own character, our own local communities and I think as a region

04:26 we are the powerhouse of the regional New South Wales economy. And have you been told if the

04:31 Liberty A. League game will be rescheduled for Bathurst this season? No, I'm not privy to that

04:37 information unfortunately.

04:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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