Footy legend Wendell Sailor backs Mackay council’s ambitious $80m sports precinct near city centre

Rugby great Wendell Sailor has thrown his support behind an ambitious plans for a multimillion dollar sports precinct in a regional Queensland city he calls a ‘sleeping giant’.

Foot legend Wendell Sailor has backed an ambition plan for an $80m sports mecca in South Mackay.

Mackay has proven it is ready for the world stage and now we can reveal an ambitious plan for an advanced, multimillion dollar sports precinct at the city fringe.

And with an estimated $80m price tag, Mayor Greg Williamson said there was only “one real chance” to get it right.

Sarina football legend Wendell Sailor has thrown his support behind a bold plan for a sporting mecca in South Mackay describing the region as a “sleeping giant” capable of hosting bigger and better events.

Wendell Sailor at a Cutters training session in 2012. Picture: Tony Martin

This long-term goal will place Mackay as a frontrunner in securing state, national and global events that will inject millions into the economy.

With a track record that includes Elton John, KISS, multiple NRL games and a Tokyo Olympics Live site, the potential for bigger entertainment and sporting events is growing.

“With our proven ability already, if we improve the facilities, we have an ideal opportunity to host state and national events here,” Cr Williams said.

The region already boasts Olympic standard swimming facilities, while Harrup Park secured $10m for the world-class Great Barrier Reef Arena project capable of hosting Big Bash, Women’s Big Bash, AFL, AFLW and international cricket formats.

A jewel in this South Mackay precinct crown is a plan to upgrade BB Print stadium and the adjacent junior rugby league grounds.

Related: Why Wendell Sailor is backing Mackay’s sporting dream

Mackay council has released concept plans for a new-look BB Print Stadium.

Mackay Regional Council has released a first look at the concept design for the BB Print Stadium Masterplan with the proposed regeneration featuring extra formal seating, better parking facilities and a new two-way grandstand.

The 15,000-strong capacity would largely remain the same, but the eastern hill would be transformed into a two-way grandstand.

It would also provide an upgraded pathways for the region’s athletes.

Sailor, a retired state and national rep player in both league and union, praised Mackay for producing and continuing to product so much talent.

Daly Cherry-Evans, Dane Gagai, Dale Shearer, Cathy Freeman, Geoff Huegill, Meg Harris and Sailor himself – are just some of the examples of the depth the region has fostered.

“I’m always proud that I’ve come from there,” Sailor said.

“We always talk about expanding the game … but we can’t forget about country areas like Mackay, Toowoomba, Rockhampton.

“I just think that area just deserves an upgrade.”

Sailor made a name for himself in both rugby league and union. He played for the Broncos before switching codes in 2001 and playing for the Queensland Reds and then the Wallabies.

He said he was not surprised Mackay had attracted three NRL games this year and it reinforced the importance of making sure country regions shared in that spotlight.

“Mackay is getting recognition,” he said.

Wendell Sailor described Mackay as a “sleeping giant” capable of hosting bigger and better events. Picture: Richard Dobson

“Mackay is a bit of a sleeping giant … I reckon they could host more games.

“And when you go there … the local crowd turns up.”

Not just from Mackay, he said, but fans travelled from the Whitsundays, Central Queensland, up from Rockhampton and down from Townsville.

“It’s a wonderful region to host sporting events,” Sailor said.

“A guy like Daly Cherry-Evans …. If he was to go back there … he’d be so proud.”

Sailor recalled a game in Mackay when he played for the Burleigh Bears in the reserve grade after returning to the sport following a time out.

“Just to go back and play in front of my home crowd with people that I grew up with that had a big part in my career,” he said.

“It made me so proud.

“Mum was there to watch me.

“It was one of those things you never forget. It gives me butterflies thinking about it.”

Sailor believed some sort of conjoined accommodation/sporting facility where players could stay and train would really help cement Mackay as a firm option moving forward.

“It’s all about accessibility,” he said.

“Some teams don’t like to travel to different fields.”

The Daily Mercury is behind a push to overhaul our sporting precinct to attract high-level events.

Councillor Michelle Green said the upgrade would deliver improved facilities and connectivity at the site as well as better emergency vehicle, pedestrian and traffic management.

“There’ll be a more formalised entrance … to welcome people into the stadium, a more formalised hub for junior rugby league,” she said.

“Connectivity spines” depicted in the artist impression images would help with pedestrian flow and, if necessary, emergency vehicle access, Cr Green said.

A junior rugby league hub including clubhouse and viewing deck, and high-performance gyms will be created as part of the new grandstand, as well as “vastly improved and added facilities … particularly for women”, she said.

“That’s one of the constraints … as we know women’s sport in rugby league in particular has just really gone through the roof,” Cr Green said.

“They’re just screaming out for those unisex facilities.”

Cr Green said there would also be improved broadcasting facilities for when Mackay hosted bigger games.

The main two junior rugby league ovals would also be moved closer to the new two-way stadium.

“So there’s more integration between the main stadium and the junior rugby league,” Cr Green said.

The masterplan includes a junior rugby league hub and view deck.

“All of this can be staged, which is a great advantage to attracting funding and getting priorities in place for what we’d like to tackle first as we move forward.”

The South Mackay Sporting Precinct Management Plan is still in the very early stages. Rough estimates put the entire plan at the $80 million mark with the bulk of that going towards the BB Print stadium upgrade.

The BB Print Stadium Masterplan had already gone through the consultancy stage and is expected to go back before the council.

If adopted the next step will be a detailed design, which is needed for the council to seek state or federal funding.

“It’s not just a wishful stake in the ground. There are great returns for our community to do this and do it right,” Cr Williamson said.

“Because I can tell you everybody up and down the eastern seaboard of Australia is out to steal our lunch.

“And we’re all competing so to be at the top of the tree … in terms of competition you’ve got to have great facilities. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Challenges linked to sports precinct

Parking and traffic are some of the key issues highlighted in plans for a mega sporting precinct in South Mackay.

Mackay Regional Council has re-enacted a management plan – conceived in 2015 – for a precinct stretching from the volleyball courts near Illawong Beach to the hockey fields on Paradise Street.

South Mackay Sports Precinct management plan stretches from the volleyball courts to the hockey fields.

Councillor Michelle Green recently had a meeting with the numerous stakeholders and leaseholders – who fall within the South Mackay Sporting Precinct Management Plan – in a bid to alleviate the current short term issues including traffic and parking challenges.

“I think we all know there’s frustrations, there’s concern and that’s why we’ve come together to do this short, medium and long-term planning around improving the connectivity in the area,” Cr Green said.

Community lifestyle manager Stephen Bourke said the meeting was about understanding where those groups “want to go in the next few years” – it was also used to inform the various groups that consultants would soon touch base about this future vision for the precinct.

The management plan in the short term, Cr Green said, involved reviewing and improving the access and user experience for all the groups, spectators and residents.

“We’re looking at a larger vision of how we can improve all of that for the whole precinct,” Cr Green said.

And as part of the larger picture there was scope for council to increase parking, which had been highlighted as an ongoing frustration.

“But … it’s very expensive,” Mayor Greg Williamson said.

“What we do now, the amount of public money we spend now, has got to last for a very long time.

“You get one real chance to do this on a big scale.”

Cr Williamson said it made sense for the council to also work with sporting groups seeking funding to upgrade their facilities like netball for an undercover facility.

“It’s not us donating the funds to them,” he said.

“But we assist them … as part of this overall program of a sporting precinct that could be absolutely fantastic.”

It would also provide a pathway in Mackay for the grassroots athletes, Cr Green said, as well as improving the liveability of the region.

“If we’ve got these facilities, we don’t lose our top athletes to Brisbane … we can keep them here,” she said.

Cr Williamson said there were also plans around connecting Harrup Park to BB Print stadium, which would involve “significant challenges”.

“Harrup Park are going to spend a lot of money … close to $30m … on making it a sensational sporting arena for cricket and AFL,” Cr Williamson said.

“They also have a lot of land available … for parking, so it makes sense for all of that to work together.”

Cr Williamson said Bridge Road, which ran between the two complexes and held one of Mackay’s most important drains, would be a key challenge to overcome.

“That’s why we’re starting now with consultants to make sure that we understand what the ultimate goal will be,” he said.

The Mackay Athletics and Recreation Centre is Olympic standard. Picture: Tara Miko

Getting ready for Brisbane 2032

Mackay has been designated as a training ground for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

Mackay Regional Council’s chief executive officer Michael Thomson and community lifestyle manager Stephen Bourke met with the Queensland Olympic Council before Brisbane was announced as the winning bid.

Mr Bourke added that during the bid it was noted Mackay was one of the areas outside southeast Queensland “they are looking to support”.

As part of that relationship Mackay was successful in hosting an Olympics Live site at its Aquatic Recreation Complex during the Tokyo Games.

“We’re starting to develop all of these relationships that are going to lead us into a pretty good space in time to come,” Mr Bourke said.

Elite Australian swim coach Dean Boxall, who was in Mackay in January with Ariarne Titmus and other members of the team at the ARC, gave feedback on how to make the region a high-performance training camp destination.

Mr Bourke said the ARC facilities were already at Olympic standard, but the addition of a high-performance gym would make it a more integrated site and would also service the proposed South Mackay sports precinct.

“The responsibility that we have now – although it’s a few years away – is to be prepared, be well organised, be supporting our clubs to be well organised, because the path ahead is to determine what kind of training hub we’re going to be,” Mr Bourke said.

“We’ve got to fly the flag as often as we can, but we’ve just got to have the facilities to back it up,” Cr Williamson added.

“That’s where we’re going, we’ve got 10 years.”

Originally published as Footy legend Wendell Sailor backs Mackay council’s ambitious $80m sports precinct near city centre