Bunbury Basketball Association to own proposed courts, construction date still up in the air

The Bunbury Basketball Association is set to join forces with the City of Bunbury in developing a new facility featuring six indoor multipurpose courts, but a construction date remains up in the air. Councillors unanimously voted on Tuesday to note the BBA as the sole third-party stakeholder interested in building, owning and operating the proposed structure. While the City, the BBA and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries are set to work together to progress the development to align with the State Government’s 2021 election commitment, a proposed timeline on when construction is likely to start remains unknown. The State Government had previously committed $8 million towards building the new multipurpose courts through an election commitment made in November 2020 ahead of the 2021 State Election. Bunbury MLA Don Punch said while he appreciated the work the City was doing in progressing the project, he was concerned by the length of time it was taking. “Indoor courts users in Bunbury have been calling for more and improved facilities for a number of years and it is not fair they continue to miss out,” he said. “I do appreciate the work the City of Bunbury is doing and am pleased to see the indoor courts project progressing and I have spoken to the Minister for Sport seeking confirmation this project will be prioritised.” However, Mr Punch sang his praises for the BBA, describing them as “a fantastic advocate for indoor court users in Bunbury”. “The association has a long and successful history as a local sporting organisation, and I am very happy it will play a leading role in the delivery and management of a new facility on behalf of all indoor court users,” he said. City of Bunbury mayor Jaysen Miguel said while the City was aware the project was one of Mr Punch’s yet-to-be-delivered election commitments, there was still some work to do to keep in line with what was required to progress the project. “For a long time, the City were considering building and managing the facility by itself and then we’ve almost totally back flipped to a totally new design to accommodate that cost,” he said. “It was always going to take a little bit of work through that and there’s some work still to do to making sure this is the right decision. “We’ve had on very good assurance from our local member Don Punch that this is a priority for him. “It’s one of his only outstanding election commitments and he’s made it clear that he wants this well and truly in the full construction phase at least by the next election. “It’s up to the City to make sure we do that but we’re very keen to make sure we stick with what the minister has asked us to do and have something up and running in development by next year some time.” Following council endorsement of plans to build the new courts in April, the City engaged with the BBA along with Bunbury Netball Association, Bunbury Volleyball Association, the South West Netball Football League, Indoor Hockey and the Bunbury & Districts Badminton Association to establish their level of interest and involvement in the concept of the stand-alone facility. In a survey taken by the City, only the BBA expressed interest in being a joint tenant in the overall management, operation, maintenance and replacement of the facility, as well as primarily utilising the new facility once built. All other stakeholders expressed they would continue holding their respective competitions at the existing indoor courts within the South West Sports Centre, with BNA, BVA, SWNFL and Indoor Hockey stating they would consider using the new facility for larger events. A further report exploring the scope of the project is set to return to council in September.