Kevin Dellar is working with residents Di Bell, Sue Exell and others – as the Horsham West Community Advocacy Group – in lobbying Horsham council to build its proposed sports stadium in the city’s west.

The group argues land west of the former junior site of Horsham College and stretching north along Jenkinson Avenue would allow for the current proposal and for growth into the future. 

They do not dispute the city’s need for the facility but question the council’s preferred location at the site of the existing basketball association. They have spoken with council as well as state sporting bodies to inform their argument. 

McBryde Street would close under the council’s plan, which also encompasses measures to counteract a flood mitigation area. 

The council released its Wimmera Sport Stadium business case and concept design report in December and is calling for community feedback.

Plans include three indoor sport courts marked for netball, basketball, volleyball and badminton, six squash courts with movable walls and five outdoor netball courts. The site would have the capacity for 12 tables for table tennis.

Mr Dellar said the proposed site needed more work because it did not allow for future expansion and was within a proven flooding area. He said about a foot of water flowed to the basketball stadium during the 2011 floods in Horsham. 

He said the council of the day had vetoed that site during planning for the Horsham Aquatic Centre because the impact of closing McBryde Street to traffic was deemed too great. 

A council audit, taken in April 2017, found more than 1000 vehicles travelled along McBryde and Hamilton streets on an average weekday. 

Mr Dellar called on the council to include other elements within the precinct, such as a synthetic track for sports such as athletics and hockey. 

“This is for tomorrow and the next 70 years," he said. 

“Don’t build this on a flood plain and on an area that cannot be extended. This is for everybody and so they do need approval from the ratepayers because they have to pay for it.

“The other big thing is drugs. Let’s give our people something to do and involve them in sport and you have a chance to control it.” 

Mrs Exell said the sports stadium had the potential to increase participation in sport and recreation. 

“We need to do it right and think big,” Mrs Exell said. 

Ms Bell said the economic opportunities that could stem from attracting high-level tournaments would be a boon for the city.  

The business case includes a proposed timetable for use of the sports stadium and Ms Bell said it did not allow enough use for sports such as netball. 

The council’s recreation and sustainability manager Rhonda McNeil said the project could cost about $20 million with funding to be sourced from federal, state and local governments.

A project control group has included representatives from the sports to be included within the stadium.

Horsham Amateur Basketball Association has since resigned from that group as it objects to the proposed location.