Aberfeldie Jets support Moonee Valley City Council’s stadium plan

Afters years of begging, a new indoor stadium could be built in Moonee Valley to house one of the country’s biggest clubs. See the latest details here.

The Aberfeldie Jets have to travel outside of Moonee Valley and as far as Caroline Springs to play their games despite being a big club. Picture: George Salpigtidis (2019)

Basketballers are set for a slam dunk with plans for a highball stadium officially underway in Moonee Valley after years of no facilities.

The Moonee Valley City Council has launched an expression of interest process for the new stadium which has been asked for since 2019. It will look at funding, suitable locations and potential development options and explore sponsorship opportunities, including naming rights for the stadium.

The stadium’s “feasibility” for a public-private partnership was discussed by councillors in the confidential section of the March 28 meeting. It was sealed off from the public because it contained “information that would prejudice the council’s position in commercial negotiations if prematurely released”.

A stadium housing multiple indoor playing courts would provide a high-grade venue for harnessing the talents of young local sportspeople, whether that be at amateur or professional competition level,” Moonee Valley Mayor Pierce Tyson said.

The potential stadium has support from the Aberfeldie Jets which is one of Australia’s biggest junior basketball clubs with more than 130 teams, 1100 registered players and more than 300 volunteers at the club.

Despite its size, the club is often forced to travel to neighbouring Hume and Brimbank City councils to play its games. Recently, two Jets teams played against each other in a competitive fixture but had to travel to Caroline Springs for it.

“Families in Moonee Valley are regularly required to travel to Caroline Springs or past the Calder Raceway to play home games against other teams from the Aberfeldie Jets and other clubs based in the City of Moonee Valley,” Jets’ president David Butters said.

“We understand that funding is available and if this is a priority of MVCC a commitment could be made in this year’s budget cycle. The community has been waiting too long for these facilities to be built.”

The club estimates it has more than 281 children on its waitlist but it is unable to offer spots due to the “lack of sufficient community facilities” available.

“We have had to say no to over a quarter of our community who are forced to wait on the sidelines due to a lack of facilities,” Mr Butters said.

“This is also leading to increased levels of frustration and desperation from parents and guardians who just want an opportunity for their kids to play basketball.”

It is understood one location the council is looking at is Quinn Grove which Cr Narelle Sharpe confirmed in the February 28 meeting.

“Without divulging anything confidential, obviously we’ve gone out and flagged Quinn Grove as a location … that’s the land that we’re talking about,” she said.

“We do have another offer on the table that has come to us that is potential (public-private partnership).

“Unless we start making big decisions around this table, this entire four years we’ll be known as the council that has achieved very little.”

Further consultation to inform the Quinn Grove Precinct Master Plan is expected to return to the council in August for discussion.