INCOMING Newcastle lord mayor Ross Kerridge wants to work collaboratively with Newcastle Basketball in developing a new indoor stadium, but maintains that the proposal for Lambton is "inappropriate."
Newcastle Basketball lodged a state significant development application (SSDA) on Thursday with the NSW Department of Planning & Environment for the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre.
The plans are on display on the State Significant Projects online portal.
It provides the Newcastle community with its biggest opportunity yet to provide feedback on the controversial development that was a major issue in the recent local government election.
Kerridge and his Our Newcastle Independents were vocal critics of using green space at Wallarah and Blackley ovals for the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre during the election campaign.
Dr Kerridge said on Sunday that he remains opposed to developing the site on the corner of Turton Road and Monash Road.
"It's really unfortunate that it's gone this far and it's causing division in the community," Dr Kerridge said.
"The basketball association, to some extent, have been mistreated and I can understand why they're keen to go ahead, but I still don't think it's appropriate.
"Of course the State Government can override [council] and say it's a state significant development, but I think there will be some further problems.
"It's been poorly handled by the State Government and perhaps by the previous council, and it's unfortunate that we've gotten to this juncture."
Once the new council is installed and Dr Kerridge becomes Newcastle's 15th lord mayor he hopes meet with Newcastle Basketball to discuss alternative sites.
"We shouldn't have gotten to this point and I think the basketball association have reason to feel aggrieved and they'd spent a lot of money on planning for this," he said.
"The first rule of when you're in a hole is to stop digging. We've gotten into a hole and it's time to stop and take stock and really engage the whole community in rethinking this."
Newcastle Basketball has endured years of frustration in their search to find a replacement site for their 55-year-old dilapidated facility at Broadmeadow.
In 2021 they lodged a development application for its proposed 10-court complex at Hillsborough.
The NSW Government committed $25 million towards the 4000-seat stadium and Lake Macquarie City Council gave its approval.
However, in 2022 Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel unanimously refused the stadium due to the site not being unsuitable for the "scale and intensity" of the development.
Newcastle Basketball have spent the past 18 months and 45 reports devising their SSDA for the Lambton site which is crown land. Newcastle Basketball is not allowed to use its $25 million grant from the NSW Government to purchase land.
Newcastle Basketball president Erica James said she hopes the SSDA will convince critics of the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre that the facility will benefit the community.
"Our intention is that this is a facility the community is really proud of and happy to have in the location proposed," Ms James said.
"We've said all along that the fact that it's over $30 million, means it has to go through that state significant process and the SSDA process is much more rigorous than a standard DA [development application].
"So it's the opportunity to test is this as the best and most appropriate site in Newcastle for this indoor sports facility, because it also allows the huge number of reports that we've done to be transparent for the community."
Those reports address traffic, flood mitigation, noise, environmental impact and economic and social impacts.
The site includes 205 car parks with access off Turton Road, a single-storey basketball complex with eight courts plus amenities, administration and retail space, mezzanine-level function rooms, training areas and an additional three courts, including a show court with retractable grandstand seating.
It is proposed the centre will cater for Newcastle Basketball's 6000 members and other sporting groups such as volleyball, pickleball, netball, futsul, badminton and schools.
"Newcastle Basketball, we're all about kids and families being able to have access to sport," Ms James said. "We're not about saying one sport is better than another or deserves more.
"But we only get this facility, while other outdoor sports have a bit more flexibility in where they can participate."
Asked if she was concerned the change of mayor would derail plans for the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre, Ms James was pragmatic.
"This is a project that's been on the books for more than 10 years, so we've had to adapt as we've had different changes of government at all levels," she said.
"All the way along Newcastle Basketball's approach has been that we want to work with all the important stakeholders in this.
"For us it's another change that's occurred, and again, we're committed to working collaboratively to make sure that that people of the Hunter region have an indoor sports facility."
