Athletics, football unable to coexist at York St according to sporting clubs
‘We should have what Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and the Gold Coast has – the majority of the big sport sports in one place’
Coffs Harbour
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Sporting groups have come face to face with councillors in a last ditch effort to convince them of the advantages of locating a long awaited Regional Athletic Centre in South Coffs Harbour.
In a crucial meeting involving representatives from a number of sporting codes, Coffs Harbour City Councillors were told in no uncertain terms the sports set to be affected the most, athletics and football, couldn’t coexist at York St, Park Beach.
Plans to build a Regional Athletics Centre have been bubbling away for years but came to a head in November 2020 when Coffs Harbour City councillors put off a vote on whether to locate it in Park Beach or South Coffs to allow stakeholders a chance to discuss the issue as one.
Nicola Johnstone has spent the best part of three years bringing everyone in the athletics community together to try and build consensus on the site and design of the new facilities.
Ms Johnstone is adamant Bruce Barnier Oval, located next to C.ex Stadium, is the logical location for the RAC given the proximity to established infrastructure and its long term potential.
“A regional athletics centre is the missing link in the sports infrastructure of Coffs Harbour,” Ms Johnstone said.
“Not only does (Bruce Barnier Oval) already have all the ancillary infrastructure it also has the large footprint and really good synergies with Southern Cross University.
“We are keen not only to service the local and regional athletics community, we want to host some pretty significant events and you can’t do that at York St.”
According to the site selection report, while locating the athletics centre within an established sporting precinct was an advantageous, it had its limitations and locating it at Bruce Barnier Oval would cause a net loss of at least two touch football fields and five Oztag fields – which could impact major tournaments.
“The design and implementation of a RAC at Bruce Barnier Oval is compromised by flooding and adjacent sport facilities and, in turn, compromises existing and planned facilities and events in the CCSLP to such an extent that York St Oval becomes a more favourable option,” the report states.
The Advocate understands the vast majority of stakeholders were in favor of the South Coffs option. Of the three organisations whose preferred option was York St, only Oztag Australia remained wholly opposed to the RAC being situated at Bruce Barnier Oval.
While both sites have their constraints, Northern Storm Football Club president Michael Lloyd said their club would be significantly affected if the York St option were to go ahead, adding the site was simply too small to accommodate both sports now, let alone in a few years time when their sports grew.
“The amount of housing going in up this year is significant and realistically our numbers will increase more in the next 3-4 years and to operate in the space allocated is not going to work,” he said.
The club is now using the opportunity to push for the Moonee Beach Sporting Complex to be expedited if the Council decides York St is the best option for the RAC, a move that Mr Lloyd says would have flow on effects for the whole of the LGA.
“The fundamental issue is there are a whole lot of user groups and there is simply not enough space to accommodate them all,” he said.
General manager of North Coast Football Andrew Woodward said the issue was about more than just “York St versus South Coffs”, it was about urban planning.
“Shoe-horning football and athletics together at York Street would create a community backlash due to noise, traffic, overcrowding, loss of public green open space, and lighting impacts on residents and visitors,” he said.
“South Coffs Harbour is made for a regional athletics centre. We should have what Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and the Gold Coast has – the majority of the big sport sports in one place.”
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