The $25 million state funding allocated for Newcastle's new basketball stadium will build only half of it.
Newcastle Basketball has lodged an application with the NSW government seeking approval for a new stadium on playing fields in Turton Road, New Lambton, opposite Hunter Stadium.
A scoping study submitted with the application says the "works for approval have been designed so that the project can be delivered as an initial block of six courts and an additional two added later".
"The staging approach will be dependent on available funding and full details will be provided in the EIS," the report says.
"Additional funding will be required for the delivery and completion of the project."
The full project includes 12 indoor courts, three of which can be converted into a 2000-seat show court, to replace Newcastle Basketball's dilapidated stadium at Broadmeadow.
Newcastle Basketball general manager Matt Neason confirmed on Friday the $25 million allocated in 2019 would be enough to build a first tranche of six indoor courts and administration rooms.
The association has applied to the Commonwealth Growing Regions program for $15 million to build another two indoor courts but, even if successful, will need to secure more funding to complete the stadium.
Newcastle Basketball will have to operate from both the Broadmeadow centre and the new stadium until it has enough funding and development approval for the full project.
The Newcastle Falcons NBL1 teams will continue to play out of the 53-year-old Broadmeadow stadium until a new show court is built, which Mr Neason said would take at least five years unless the basketball association could leverage more funding out of a Growing Regions grant.
"Under our commitment with the Office of Sport we've sought variation on the actual scope of the project because cost escalations from when it was originally planned to now mean that we can't build the 10-court facility with the remaining funds," he said.
"So the commitment at the moment is to complete a six-court facility as part of stage one.
"Our intent is to seek additional funds, originally at the moment through the Growing Regions fund, where we've been invited to participate in the second round. That would give us an additional $15 million, which doesn't complete the overall project, but it allows us to develop a larger stage-one project."
The show court is vital to Newcastle Basketball's campaign to enter a team in the Women's National Basketball League.
Basketball Newcastle, Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper and City of Newcastle announced the stadium plan on March 22, three days before the state election, after the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel had rejected an earlier proposal to shift the stadium to Hillsborough.
Mr Piper said at the time that he had helped secure an extra $5 million from the Coalition to allow for soaring construction costs.
"This additional money will make sure we get the regional facility we deserve rather than a scaled-back version of the original," he said at the time.
"I'm very pleased to have got the $30 million required to build this fantastic regional facility."
Labor, which has now formed government, did not commit to providing the extra $5 million, and the $25 million has now fallen well short of what is needed.
The scoping report says Newcastle Basketball is seeking detailed consent for stage one of the new stadium and concept approval for the rest of the project. It says the estimated construction start date for stage one is April 2025.
Mr Neason said he could understand the community being disappointed that the funding would not build the entire stadium.
"But once we are able to deliver the first phase I think just having a new facility to move into will be pretty meaningful for our members," he said.
"What it will mean is we will continue to operate out of Broadmeadow, particularly for our NBL1 Falcons games, because the new facility won't have the capacity to cater for the 1200-plus people that turn up to those.
"So it does mean for a period of time we would operate the two facilities, but I guess the exciting part of that is we go from having six courts and a few satellite venues that we operate out of to being able to operate 12 courts, and that allows us to almost double our membership size and clear some of the wait list we struggle with."
The existing Broadmeadow stadium is on land owned by government agency Venues NSW and inside the proposed 63-hectare Hunter Park sports, recreation and residential precinct.
Mr Neason hoped the state government's desire to develop high-density housing close to Broadmeadow station would help Newcastle Basketball attract more funding for the new stadium.
"We would think so. That would seem to make the most sense for everyone," he said.
"Obviously there's value in that land for the state government."
The stage-one works include a 146-space car park, which would grow to 205 spaces when the complex is completed, with vehicle access off Turton Road.
