All systems go for major sports projects

WITH shovels now in the ground at Waurn Ponds, the full suite of sporting facilities promised to the region after the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games is finally in motion.

Construction on the Waurn Ponds Sporting Complex, to be located in Ghazeepore Road, began with a sod turn in early October and is expected to be completed in early 2027.

Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney described the milestone as a “community dream taking shape”.

The project will feature six multi-sport courts, a regional-level gymnastics facility and a dance hall.

 

 

Construction on the Armstrong Creek Sports Centre is expected to wrap up much sooner, with completion anticipated in late-2026.

Works on the centre — which will feature four indoor multi-sport courts and a civic plaza with basketball hoops, areas for skating and parkour, table tennis tables and informal play spaces — began in May.

The project is backed up $6 million in funding from the federal government, pledged by Corangamite Labor federal member Libby Coker ahead of the 2022 election.

She said it would be a “legacy project” for the growing township.

 

 

 

“The four-court centre is so much needed, and I know local families will embrace it as soon as its doors are open.”

It will be located between the Surf Coast Highway and Barwarre Road, to the north of the Armstrong Creek town centre site, less than 10 minutes from the Waurn Ponds Sporting Complex.

Local basketball and netball players have long called for more courts across the region, as demand continues to grow, a gap the two new sporting facilities are expected to help fill.

Crews are also onsite at Stead Park in Corio, as the resurfacing works on the facility’s western pitch get underway.

 

 

The new surface will be complemented by a new electronic scoreboard and lighting, while a two-storey pavilion, with canteen, storage, changerooms and other amenities, will also be built between the venue’s two pitches.

Works began last month and are also expected to be completed in late-2026.

Hockey Geelong president Graeme Dent celebrated the September sod turn as a “historic” day for what he says is “the biggest investment in hockey in Geelong since the game commenced in 1912”.

It is, however, the new hockey facility in Torquay North that is leading the pack, with the project working towards completion in mid-2026.

 

 

But while each of these sporting projects progress, questions remain about the future of the site to the south of Waurn Ponds train station that was earmarked for what would have been the Commonwealth Games village.

In March last year, Premier Jacinta Allan announced up to 400 new homes, including about 72 social and affordable homes, would be built at the site, which is bordered by Muri Road and Baanip Boulevard.

Little progress has been made since, but Development Victoria confirmed in September that a planning permit for the southern portion of the site has now been approved by the City of Greater Geelong.

Nemesia Kennett, Development Victoria acting executive general manager of housing said the body was working to ensure “appropriate and respectful planning for the site”.

It is unclear when works will begin.