New Strategic Sports Plan to tackle rising demand on Newcastle sportsfields

newy.com.au – Newcastle residents and sports club members are being asked to help shape a new Strategic Sports Plan as City of Newcastle responds to rising demand for sportsfields from both organised sport and casual recreation.

Following initial consultation with sporting associations, the council has opened community consultation on the future of sporting facilities across the local government area, seeking feedback on current infrastructure and what upgrades may be needed in coming years.

Executive Manager Community and Recreation Lynn Duffy said the feedback would help guide how City of Newcastle improves and invests in sportsgrounds. “We want to capture the thoughts and needs of all community members when it comes to sporting infrastructure,” Ms Duffy said.

She said participation trends had shifted since the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people taking part in social sports and recreation such as running, walking and unofficial group outdoor games. “This trend increases the need for our sporting infrastructure to be planned and developed with shared use as a priority, to ensure it can accommodate a predicted population boom and evolving participation trends in both organised sport and informal recreation,” Ms Duffy said.

Adopted in 2020, the 10-year Strategic Sports Plan was designed to address future demand and guide the supply, maintenance and upgrade of sporting infrastructure across Newcastle. City of Newcastle said more than 70 per cent of its recommendations had been partially or fully delivered, but changing participation trends, climate impacts and competing demands for usable land had prompted a review.

Chair of City of Newcastle’s Sports Infrastructure Working Party, Councillor Peta Winney-Baartz, said the plan remained a key framework for investment, with the council currently spending more than $15 million each year on maintaining or upgrading sporting infrastructure. She said the revised plan would better reflect community needs, set out the process for clubs seeking facility upgrades, and align sports infrastructure planning with projects including the Broadmeadow Place Strategy and Southern Beaches Coastal Management Plan.

Cr Winney-Baartz said the review would also focus on improving the quality, accessibility and functionality of facilities to support universal access for people with disabilities, families and older adults, as well as high-performance athletes. The updated plan will also look at how sports users and the broader community can work together to maximise use of facilities as Newcastle’s population grows.

Community members can find out more or lodge a submission through the Have Your Say page on City of Newcastle’s website. Public exhibition opened on Friday and closes at 5pm on 11 May 2026.