VIDEO: The Sports Precinct project continues to make steady progress on a number of fronts, with work continuing during the caretaker period leading up to the election of the new council.
In short: The sports precinct on Forest Road is a hive of activity again.
Designs for the new stadium are expected to finalised by the end of the year.
What’s next: The detailed designs will let DAs be submitted for final planning approval.
Work began last month to create the irrigation, and drainage for the turf for the eight new sports fields. This work will happen over the remainder of 2024.
The fields will be irrigated when required. Any overflow or major storm flows will be collected by the precinct’s stormwater system. That water flows to a dam on the northern end of the Jack Brabham fields. The dam can be used to supply water to the irrigation system.
The new fields will be topped with 200 mm of sand to improve drainage.
The tender to erect lighting for the eight new sportsfields, together with supplying power to the whole site is expected to be issued next month.
Design work is continuing on the detailed plans for both the main stadium and the athletics track. Council staff are working with the design teams to closely manage the costs of the two projects to ensure the project can be completed within the set budget.
The designs will also have the level of detail needed to submit the required Development Applications.
The NSW Government has committed $59.5 million to the Orange Sports Precinct project.
It’s expected to take around 12 weeks to finalise designs for the athletics track, amenities block and car park. Once planning permission has been received, it’s expected the construction tender to build the car park and amenities block for the athletics track will be issued, which will also service the 8 multipurpose fields. The Athletics track and remaining associated infrastructure will not begin until after the tender for the main stadium is finalised.
It’s expected to take around 16 weeks to finalise designs for the main stadium. Once planning permission has been received, it’s expected the construction tender for the stadium will be issued. Once the costs of the stadium are known, the tender to construct the athletics track will then be issued.
Decisions on these construction tenders will be key decisions for the newly-elected council