Community sport will be strengthened at both ends of Canberra regardless of October’s election result, with Gungahlin and Tuggeranong set to benefit with new facilities should either Canberra Liberals or ACT Labor win.
The Canberra Liberals have promised to build $12 million indoor multipurpose sports complexes in both Tuggeranong and Gungahlin.
ACT Labor, on the other hand, have outlined a more sport-specific approach, with an $8 million tennis facility promised for Gungahlin and a long-awaited twin-sheet ice skating facility to be built in Tuggeranong.
The Canberra Liberals announced their Gungahlin indoor facility over the weekend and promised community consultation on selecting the site, the design, and construction.
The proposed $12.7 million multipurpose facility would feature six indoor basketball courts and a large multipurpose space for a range of sporting codes as well as school sport and community activities.
Earlier this month they pledged they would also construct a $12.3 million indoor multi-purpose sports complex at the site of the Calwell netball courts should they win the upcoming election.
The Canberra Liberals have also promised $200 Active and Creative Kids vouchers to reduce the cost of sports participation for families with young children.
Earlier this month, ACT Labor made a high-profile announcement about their Gungahlin Tennis Facility, with Canberra tennis champion Nick Kyrgios on hand.
If re-elected, ACT Labor, in partnership with Tennis ACT, will construct the new facility, which aims to include 10 to 12 full-sized courts, hot shots courts, a hitting wall, LED flood lighting, parking and a pavilion.
This facility will also support Kyrgios’ NK Foundation to engage children who have challenging and complex lives in sport.
ACT Labor’s twin-sheet Tuggeranong ice skating facility will be delivered in partnership with South Australian based company Cruachan Investments Pty Ltd, which will build and operate the centre.
The facility will feature two Olympic-sized ice rinks, associated change rooms and amenities for participants and officials, and spectator capacity for 2,000. It is due to be completed late-2022 to early-2023.
A detailed design plan for the facility, which has been in the works for over four years, will be submitted by Cruachan for the suggested site on Rowland Rees Crescent in Greenway by 2021.
