Dubbo Photo News 21.07.2022

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DEBATE HEATS UP By BROOKE JACOBSON

DEBATE is raging over the proposed sporting facilities development at Regand Park. Those in favour of the plan say it’s going to be a boon for the whole community, while those against say it’s devastating for the environment. St John’s Junior Rugby League Club stalwart, John Walkom, told Dubbo Photo News the proposal for the site was first discussed with the previous Dubbo Regional Council. “Council is doing a study across all the sporting fields, and Regand Park is part of that,” he said. “Regand Park had been set aside for environmental purposes, and council had to change that if any development was going to go ahead – and that’s nothing that the club had any

control over.” Mr Walkom added the club was looking to expand, with a total of eight ovals as well as a canteen and amenities at the site. “We have received a grant from the State Government for the first stage of the ovals, and we received a letter of support from council for that grant,” he said. “St Johns Club has partnered with CYMS for stage one of the development, which is around $1.2 million. “The important thing to note is that St John’s is a not-for-profit sporting club. “We have around 600 members playing in 39 teams, and we’ve had a significant increase in males playing rugby league and also now with the league tag, which is predominantly played by the girls.

“We have 160 girls playing league tag. “We have created a pathway for girls, and we are looking at working with the NRLW to get our girls into the contact game. “We want more ovals to expand the game particularly for women in league and we need the right facilities. “Apex Oval just isn’t big enough – there’s four ovals there, and one is allocated for marquee events like NRL, union or soccer, or rep games etc. “We do also utilise Jubilee Oval for training, but that splits the club and puts a strain on volunteer resources.” Mr Walkom said St John’s and CYMS were about more than just sport. “For the past five years we’ve also been running a wellbeing program, that is about mental health, healthy eating, fitness,

the dangers of drugs in sport and as part of this development, we could have a training centre there for that and we have other mentor programs as well,” he said. He added the club was not interested in creating a desert. “We don’t want to build out in the riparian area, we don’t want to pull out trees,” Mr Walkom said. “We are building the facilities at no cost to the community, the land will be owned by council, and the land will still be open for everyone to walk their dogs or throw a ball around. “On game days, there would be controlled access, but we are not going to lock up this land. “And we want shade – everyone now expects sustainable design and development, and we want this to meet good environmental standards.”

Dubbo barrister Stephen Lawrence said he was firmly against the proposed development. “Regand Park is an incredibly valuable and unique recreational and environmental asset for Dubbo,” he said. “The majority of the Dubbo Region community needs to stand up and protect it. In the future we will rue our inaction if the park is lost.” He added the best use for Regand Park was environmental, leaving it as passive recreation green space for the community. “Its best use is definitely not private sporting fields,” he said. “Or any of the other proposals that will follow if this one is allowed. This was recognised in the Regand Park master plan that council staff developed in close consultation with the community some years back.” ›› STORY CONTINUES: P4

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William and Edward Heckendorf flank Wests Tigers Community Manager Keehan Diamond after a footy clinic the club ran in Dubbo. The AED, pictured at the front left, is one of 86 the club is donating to towns across the Western Region in partnership with Local Aboriginal Land Councils. PHOTO: DUBBO PHOTO NEWS

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HEART OF A

TIGER

By JOHN RYAN WESTS Tigers came to town this week and while the club ran footy clinics for local kids, there was a more serious purpose to the visit. The Regional Road Trip was all about promoting healthy lifestyle messages and delivering more than 80 lifesaving defibrillators to communities across the region according to Wests Tigers Community manager Keehan Diamond. “It’s been a big project. For us, it’s all about enriching lives in the community, that’s our

mission statement. What we’re doing here is rugby league but it’s also something different for the community – (we’re) delivering 86 AED defibrillators to regional areas of NSW, working with the Local Aboriginal Land Councils,” he told Dubbo Photo News. “We have some kids out here in their Tigers jerseys. We’re running a free clinic for the kids in Dubbo and from here we’re heading to Menindee to deliver some more community clinics and also some AEDs to the local Land Council out there. ›› STORY CONTINUES: P18

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