Ausahoops Chatswood: Owners speak out after development stoush with Willoughby Council

A basketball training centre due to open in September remains closed to the public — and the 150 members who signed up to use it — after a planning battle with a local council.

The Ausahoops basketball training facility remains closed to the public. Picture: supplied

The owners behind a new north shore basketball training facility have spoken of their frustrations after a long-running planning stoush with a north shore council.

The Ausahoops basketball training facility was due to open in Chatswood in September, but remains closed to the public including 150 new members who signed up to use the new facility.

The planning process began back in May when Ausahoops submitted a $196,747 development application to Willoughby Council to convert the warehouse building into the sporting centre.

The 1000 sqm training hub on Smith St includes a main basketball court area and a two storey gym.

Ausahoops general manager James Phillips said what was hoped to be a three month assessment process has turned into six – and is no closer to knowing when the doors will be able to open.

Ausahoops also runs centres at Thornleigh and Alexandria.

“We were hoping to open in September, but at have been met with hurdle after hurdle. It seems each requirement has taken the maximum amount of time if not more,” he said.

“Our development application was finally approved this month which was great but they have listed a maximum capacity of 16 people — by comparison our Alexandria facility is a similar size and has a capacity of over 100.

“A 16 person capacity isn’t viable as a business, we’d fill up in a second. We don’t want to be turning people away or telling parents they can’t stay and watch their kids.

The development includes a new gym.

“We’re now having to go back to submit more paperwork to try and have the capacity increased but have no idea when it will be approved.

“Ideally we want to beat Christmas because we’re concerned the council staff are all going to go on holiday and won’t get this sorted until after January.”

A timeline of the development process shows the council has requested multiple reports from Ausahoops since May, including assessments by police and additional reports scoping impacts on traffic and parking.

A Willoughby Council spokesman said the length of the assessment process was due to the complexity of the development application including on-site parking levels which did not meet council requirements, and a physiotherapy room being proposed within the development which is not a permitted use in the IN1 General Industrial zone.

The spokesman said the council would consider and assess a modification application to increase the capacity from 16, however highlighted the original paperwork lodged by Ausahoops had projected a maximum of 15 people using the site at a time.

It is not known when the centre will open.

Mr Phillips said the delays had impacts on north shore residents who signed up to the new facility earlier this year.

“We have sold about 150 presale memberships and had to refund people who are understandably frustrated with the process, but the hardest part has been having to make some staff redundant because of the delayed opening.

This is our third facility and in our naivety, though this would be a straightforward process as we’ve experienced elsewhere. We recognise we made some mistakes early on in the process but it now feels like things are being overly bureaucratic.

“It’s very difficult for people to get court access on the north shore and this Facility is what people have been signing out for. We know this will be a positive addition for the community.”

Parent Glen Riddell, who has two children who signed up to the facility in June, is among families eagerly waiting for the centre to open its doors.

“We were hoping for it to open in the September school holidays, and at the moment we don’t know if it will open in time for the Christmas holidays,” he said.

“There are basketball facilities in Crows Nest and courts on schools which aren’t ideal, but nothing else like this in Chatswood where people can go, practice their shooting and hone their skills with trainers and coaches.

“It’s a good way of encouraging young people into sport and all the kids are raring to get down there.”

Willoughby Deputy Mayor Brendan Zhu said he has been contacted by parents and is looking into the matter.

“We want to encourage recreational facilities – it’s a good thing for the community and we should try and incentivise it, not create a burden,” he said.

If approved, the facility would be the third Ausahoops in Sydney after Alexandria and Thornleigh.