Julia Gillard gives Fremantle Dockers $10m for training centre

The Federal Government has kicked in $10 million towards the Fremantle Dockers' plan for a new $114 million training centre.

julia gillard with dockers

The Federal Government has kicked in $10 million towards the Fremantle Dockers' plan for a new $114 million training centre.

On a flying visit to Perth, Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited the proposed site of the new training and leisure facility in Cockburn.

The decision comes after presentations by Dockers bosses in Canberra earlier this month during the AFL's Hall of Fame celebrations.

The multi-million dollar contribution to the $114 million state-of-the-art facility at Cockburn Central West follows an announcement in December 2012 that the Dockers had reached a heads of agreement with the City of Cockburn to develop the club’s new elite training and administration facility at the 26,000sqm green field site.

Club CEO Steve Rosich said today’s announcement of the Federal Government’s contribution to the project was a great endorsement of the world class facilities at Cockburn Central West that will place the club at the absolute forefront of integrated elite sporting and community facilities in Australia.

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The $10 million funding commitment announced today was awarded after a two-stage application process to the Regional Development Australia Fund by the City of Cockburn in conjunction with the Fremantle Football Club.

"We understand it to be one of the larger single grants RDAF has allocated to this type of project nationally, and follows the significant and detailed work that has gone into the project to date,” Rosich said.

"The joint project involving the City of Cockburn, the Fremantle Dockers and other potential stakeholders will, in time, garner a national reputation as a revolutionary model for integrated elite sporting and community facilities.

"We are extremely grateful for the federal government’s significant contribution to the project - which is in addition to the $65 million committed by the City of Cockburn and $10 million by the Fremantle Dockers - that will significantly enhance the recreational opportunities for residents in the Cockburn region and beyond.

Rosich also reaffirmed the club’s commitment announced by Fremantle president Steve Harris last year that while the club would be moving its core operations for administration and football to the Cockburn Central West site, it would not be leaving Fremantle.

“We are in the early stages of working with a consultant on a plan for the redevelopment of the club’s existing facility at Fremantle Oval, including an ongoing presence by the Freo Dockers at Fremantle Oval for sporting, community, retail and commercial purposes,” Rosich said.

The site at Cockburn Central West, bounded by North Lake Road, Midgegooroo Avenue, Beeliar Drive and Poletti Road, is highly accessible being 500m from the Cockburn Central train station and in close proximity to the Kwinana Freeway.

Recent developments in the area include substantial commercial and residential projects, including high density housing and a retail precinct, and the $38 million Cockburn Integrated Health and Community Facility.

The proposed new facilities at the Cockburn Central West site include the provision for larger elite football and administration facilities for the club of more than 6000sqm plus green space, with the club also having exclusive or priority access at designated times to facilities including but not limited to:

•               AFL standard oval and access to a second oval

•               50 metre, 10 lane outdoor competition swimming pool

•               25 metre indoor swimming pool

•               Hydrotherapy pool and aquatic recovery pools

•               Regional multipurpose indoor sporting centre, including six highball courts

•               Sports store, including a Fremantle Dockers’ retail outlet

•               Supporter facilities, with the exact nature and size of these facilities to be determined in the next stage
                of design

Additional community facilities in the current scope of the project, which will serve a catchment of more than 207,000 people in Perth’s rapidly growing southern corridor, include:

•               Café

•               Playground and picnic areas

•               Health and wellness facilities, including wellness and fitness studio, gymnasium, activity
                rooms, rehabilitation facilities and sports medicine facilities

•               Meeting and conference rooms

•               Administration offices for community organisations

•               Elite training facilities for local and regionally-based elite athletes

•               Local community meeting and flexible space

•               Education facilities, including lecture theatres, classrooms and laboratory space
 

- www.fremantlefc.com.au