By Mikayla van Loon
A builder has been appointed by Yarra Ranges Council to carry out improvement and extension works at the Pinks Reserve Kilsyth Basketball Stadium.
After acquiring tenders for the project, Newpol Construction was selected to construct an extra basketball court, alongside flood mitigation and accessibility works to the total of $8 million.
Given the price rises in the construction industry, Yarra Ranges Council has had to contribute a further $2 million towards the completion of the project, having already approved $3 million.
The State government had already contributed $10.5 million for the upgrades as part of the Pinks Reserve Master Plan.
“Pinks Reserve, I think is fair to say, the leading sporting area in our municipality. It’s got a bit of absolutely everything…and there’s been money spent on upgrading every single one of those sports over the last three years,” Councillor Len Cox said.
“There’s about 10,000 people a week who go to Pinks Reserve to play some level of sport and that is actually quite remarkable.”
The Kilsyth Basketball Stadium is one of the largest regional basketball centres in Victoria and is host to over 1,100 teams, including the leading talent pathway program in the Kilsyth Cobras.
Cr Johanna Skelton said given the high participation numbers of men, women, children and people with disabilities, the council couldn’t not move forward with the project despite rising costs.
“It is a lot of money…but we can’t not. We’ve got such high use of this facility, we’ve got a really active, engaged group who are contributing $200,000 as well to the project,” she said.
“We’ve got 6000 junior basketballers and more than 40 people who play at a state level for wheelchair basketball.
“You can’t watch that level of engagement and not provide accessible toilets that those users can use. You can’t not provide the ramps and you also can’t not provide the flood and inundation things that we’re funding here. There’s no point building a fantastic building and watching it flood.”
As one of the main evacuation centres for bushfire, the proposed works also include fireproofing the existing corridor link between buildings.
Other works will include cladding replacement and upgrades to the internal linings and insulation at the badminton stadium, adding a Changing Places facility and accessible changerooms.
While Cr Cox was disappointed the original budget had to be increased, he was positive it would be well worth the expense for the local and broader Yarra Ranges community.
“Expenses have been running riot over the last few years, certainly since Covid arrived, so council has been a bit short to finish this off properly,” he said.
“We can build the court but the toilet situation and the conveniences of the people using it wouldn’t get finished and there’s no point in partly doing it.
“This will enable the council to finish the whole complex at Pinks Reserve so that it will be good, in excellent condition.”
The motion to approve the proposed builder and costing was unanimously passed on Tuesday 28 February.
