Sea Eagles: The $10 million Brookvale Oval funding meeting

A prominent Sea Eagles official has revealed he attended a top level meeting where Baird said the fovernment would provide $10 million for a much-needed redevelopment of Brookvale Oval.

• $1.2 million upgrade for athletic track
• Minister pulls plug on $10 million funding for Lottoland

A prominent Sea Eagles official has revealed he attended a top level meeting at which then NSW Treasurer Mike Baird said the State Government would provide $10 million for a much-needed redevelopment of Lottoland.

“I was shocked to find the State Government suddenly reneged on that $10 million because it was promised at a meeting on the 29 November 2013,” said Sea Eagles co-patron and former Federal Labor Senator Kerry Sibraa.

He has worked since 1998 to get the oval and refurbished and at the time he was chairman of the Brookvale Oval committee.

Former Labor senator Kerry Sibraa with Nelson Mandela in 1990.

“I was at the Brookvale Oval Summit which was chaired by the Honourable Mike Baird where the council, Tony Abbott and the NRL were represented and the commitment to upgrade Brookvale was made,” Mr Sibraa told the Manly Daily.

Mr Sibraa’s handwritten notes from that meeting said the first proposal was for a $30 million loan to Warringah Council to do up the oval but the council said they could not carry that on their books.

“My notes say Mike Baird then said ‘all the State Government can provide at this stage is $10 million’,” Mr Sibraa said.

His statement is at odds with comments made by NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres who said on Wednesday that the $10 million was part of the NSW Government’s centre of excellence fund.

NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres. Picture: AAP.

The minister also said that Lottoland was owned by the council and that local grounds need to be supported by local councils.

But Mr Sibraa said that in 2008 the State Government gave $6.6 million and the council $4 million to repair the ground.0

“A lot of that was on new seating, new roofing and electrical upgrades otherwise the Sea Eagles would not have been able to play there,” he said.