Council commits to netball

Published on 04 March 2024

Mayor Tom Kennedy says the city's netball facilities will take top priority in ongoing upgrades of the O'Neill Sporting Complex, after Council committed $3.8 million to the project at last week's Council meeting.

The upgrade will see the construction of 10 new netball courts with Rebound Ace surfaces, along with new lighting, fencing, and shelters.

Council had originally planned a much larger scope of works when redesigning the Complex, including a new internal road network with a roundabout, walking paths, oval resurfacing and lighting, children's play equipment, landscaping, and more.

However spiralling costs due to recent inflation forced Council to rethink its scope, with the netball facility taking precedence.

Mayor Kennedy said the popularity of netball combined with the current facility's poor condition made for an easy decision.

"The city's netballers and their families deserve far better facilities than we have on offer at the moment, so we were more than happy to prioritise this aspect of the O'Neill Complex," said Mr Kennedy.

"We do have some existing  funding set aside for new changerooms and bathrooms for the cricket oval, but aside from that, our focus is entirely on netball.

"Once we have the netball courts up and running we can then look to upgrade other areas of the Complex in a staged approach.

"We want to thank the local Netball Association for their input into this project, and the patience of the local netball community as we've worked to get this project off the ground."

The netball upgrades are expected to begin in the coming weeks, with Construction to be carried out by Jirgens Civil Pty Ltd.

This project is funded by Broken Hill City Council and the NSW Government through the Resources For Regions program.