Newcastle Labor councillors want the NSW government to acquire the former Hamilton North gasworks site to relocate Newcastle Basketball Stadium.
The Labor bloc has lodged a motion to next Tuesday's council meeting to write to the government and ask it to buy or compulsory acquire the 7.4 hectare site to relocate the basketball stadium, PCYC and tennis courts which are set to be displaced by the Hunter Park development.
The Clyde Street site has been remediated to a commercial-industrial standard and the Newcastle Herald reported in May that owner Jemena was poised to sell the land to an industrial property developer.
Newcastle Basketball has lodged an application with the NSW government seeking approval for a new sports stadium on Wallarah and Blackley ovals at New Lambton, opposite Hunter Stadium. The association has received a $25 million NSW government grant for the project.
Residents, school parents and sporting teams have vehemently opposed the proposed site, which Newcastle council said was the "only" parcel of land available in the city for the project. The council was approached to find a site after a previous application to build the stadium at Hillsborough in Lake Macquarie was refused.
A community rally was held this month to stop the stadium being built on Wallarah and Blackley ovals, which Labor councillors did not attend.
But the councillors' new idea acknowledges the "impact" of the current proposal.
"We know that a new facility would be welcomed by players from young kids to adults, and both amateurs and professionals," Labor ward three councillor Peta Winney-Baartz said.
"We also recognise the impact of the proposed relocation to Wallarah Oval, and have been working with the NSW government on possible alternatives.
"Unfortunately the exploration of other options, such as the former Astra Street landfill facility, have proven unsuccessful.
"We've also received confirmation from the NSW government that the facility cannot be located directly within the Sports and Entertainment Precinct.
"Local media has reported that the former Hamilton North gasworks site is available for sale. Given the impending sale, it would make sense for this land to be returned to government ownership, to enable complementary community use as part of the Broadmeadow redevelopment."
The government grant for the basketball stadium does not allow Newcastle Basketball to buy land, but the government acquiring a site could unlock a new option.
The council said the land criteria for the grant included public ownership, minimum size to cater for the facility, appropriate site zoning and proximity to existing transport infrastructure.
The gasworks site is zoned E4, which indoor recreation facilities are permitted on under the Newcastle Local Environment Plan.
The stadium proposal requires further funding. The $25 million will pay for only a first stage of six courts, and Newcastle Basketball president Erica James told the Herald in July that while the association was open to any suggestions, changing location again would be "very expensive".
"We're making substantial progress with the Wallarah site, and we're committed to that," she said at the time.
"Every time there's a change of site we lose money.
"We've invested a lot of money in the Wallarah site for flood and traffic studies."
Labor ward three councillor Margaret Wood said her team's proposal would progress housing supply and offer "a sensible and pragmatic option".
"Our city needs new homes, and needs new homes quickly," she said.
"One of the fastest ways we can help deliver new homes for our city is by progressing the Broadmeadow Place Strategy, including the rezoning and redevelopment of existing sites occupied by Newcastle Basketball and the PCYC.
"I'm hopeful that this is an approach that meets the needs of all Novocastrians."
