Proposal for joint Macedon Ranges sports hub and New Gisborne sports fields project

MACEDON Ranges Council officers have recommended merging the $28 million Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Hub and $14.2 million New Gisborne Regional Sports Fields projects.

Young footballers on the site where the New Gisborne Regional Sportsfields would be built.

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MACEDON Ranges Council officers have recommended merging the $28 million Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Hub proposal with the $14.2 million New Gisborne Regional Sports Fields project.

The recommendation, for a Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Precinct, will be heard at the council meeting on Wednesday night as the council first looks to adopt the feasibility study into a proposed eight-court regional sports hub.

It comes as 20 junior basketball players have been turned away from the next winter basketball season by the Gisborne Bulldogs Basketball Club.

The Bulldogs send teams to Sunbury to play in the Sunbury Basketball Association.

The strain on court space for training at the two-court indoor stadium at the Gisborne Secondary College has led to a committee decision to put a freeze on new player registrations.

Junior registrar Sally Warner said turning players away, some aged under 12, was “heartbreaking”.

“You feel responsible as there are obvious fitness, team spirit and mental health benefits you want to be providing to these young people,” she said. “There are a lot of newcomers to basketball and new families to this area who miss out.”

There are 268 boys and 88 girls registered with the Bulldogs.

Gisborne Bulldogs president Jeff Powser told the Leader that among measures to even keep training going was sending teams to Tony Clarke Reserve in Macedon.

Continued collaboration with futsal and netball associations in sharing indoor facilities was essential as those sports were expected to experienced growth, he said.

The Bulldogs and other sports clubs in the region are awaiting the outcome of the meeting at the council on Wednesday.

“This project is nothing without local government support as it will be that commitment which is required for the state and federal commitments we are seeking,” Mr Powser said.

The hub committee has invited its supporters to the council meeting Wednesday night in Gisborne from 7pm.