Seems the High performance center is approved and construction will start pretty quickly.
The Dragons' $60 million High Performance Centre at Fairy Meadow has received the green light, after a decision was deferred due to "ambiguity" over some issues.
The plans were lodged with Wollongong City Council in October 2022, but any decision rested with the Southern Regional Planning Panel.
The facility,
to be built on the northern side of the Innovation Campus, will include two playing fields, locker rooms, state-of-the-art gym, aquatic recovery centre, full physiotherapy facilities, spa and lecture theatre.
That panel approved
the development just days ago, but it came after some concerns raised in a meeting in May this year saw a decision deferred.
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"Whilst the panel accepted that council had undertaken a comprehensive assessment of the development application, it agreed that there was some ambiguity in relation to several matters that in the panel's mind required clarification," the planning panel's decision stated.
"This included mattes raised by community members. It also noted that the applicant had objected to several key conditions recommended by the council relating to development contributions, flooding, and stormwater management."
The panel requested further information around how the centre would not have an impact on existing street parking, details around the noise impact assessment relating to the community field and justification for its plan to defer the final design of the building and car park as it related to flooding and stormwater outcomes.
In terms of the design and flooding, the Dragons requested that "portions of the proposed building and car park south of the building that is in the floodway" could be constructed either at grade or on piers to allow unimpeded storage and conveyance of floodwater.
The council did not support this because amended plans and flood modelling were required. "The amendment to the condition in isolation without consideration of this information is not appropriate," the council report stated.
In response to the concerns over whether the 60 allocated parking spaces would be enough, the Dragons said car-parking studies has shown "there is sufficient car parking available on the Innovation Campus, and proposed to be provided through the development, to satisfy the demands of the further HPC without any reliance upon on-street parking".
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Council traffic planners assessed these studies and concluded that the level of spaces "should be sufficient" to avoid on-street parking.
The panel's eventual approval noted the Dragons had agreed to all the conditions proposed by the council.
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Rmments
It also noted the residents' objections over flooding, parking and the visual impact of floodlighting on the field, adding these and other concerns had been addressed in the revised conditions of consent.
Housing and Homelessness Minister Clare O'Neil launches Homelessness Week 2024. Video via AAP.
Dragons CEO Ryan Webb said the approval marked "an exciting time for the club" and was hoping the facility would be finished in 18 months.
"We've been working with a builder for the last few months, finalising design and costs," Mr Webb said.
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"Now we have the DA, we can hopefully bring that to a head and sign a contract to begin construction in the next couple of months."
The aim is to see the Dragons teams training at Fairy Meadow the bulk of the time, rather than the current situation where things are split between locations.
"Currently, we run out of three to four different facilities," Mr Webb said.
"That's testing not just from a player perspective but from a staff perspective because you miss a lot of cross pollination, and the chance to learn and converse with one another on a daily basis.
"So this will bring everyone under one roof from our men's, our women's, our community programs, our junior programs.
"And I think that can just only benefit everything we do."
