In a bid to breathe new life into Leichhardt Oval — home of NRL club the Wests Tigers and known in rugby league circles as the eighth wonder of the world — the Inner West Council is seeking help from the state and federal governments to fund a renovation of the stadium’s outdated facilities.
An artist’s impression of a proposed upgrade of Leichhardt Oval being pursued by the Inner West council.Inner West Council/COX Architecture
The council has adopted a new masterplan which includes several tiers of potential upgrades,from minor improvements to facilities including men’s and women’s change rooms to a new 1500-person northern grandstand. If it secured enough funding,it would also look to overhaul the existing western grandstand.
The cost of the renovations range between about $5 million for upgraded seating to $21 million for a new northern stand,and between $33 million and $98 million for upgrades to the major western stand.
Byrne has a novel suggestion for where to the find the money:take money out of Penrith.
Last year the former Coalition government cancelled redevelopments of Leichhardt,Brookvale and Cronulla stadiums after the northern rivers floods to support victims of the crisis. The Inner West was also controversially denied access to the multibillion-dollar WestInvest funding parcel from the sale of the WestConnex motorway.
But a $309 million upgrade of Penrith stadium remained on the books and continues to be under the new Labor government. Byrne said the decision to continue funding Penrith – a marginal seat at the last election – while other areas lost funding was “blatant pork-barrelling” by the Coalition and that the new government should consider a “reallocation” of some funds to Leichhardt.
The Leichhardt Oval hill at full capacity.Fairfax
“With a fraction of the money that has been allocated to Penrith Stadium,we can provide decent seating,toilets,catering facilities and upgraded female-friendly change rooms for the hundreds of teams who use the ground and the fans who support them,” he wrote.
Leichhardt,he said,hosts substantially more sporting fixtures,including A-League men’s and women’s games,Shute Shield and junior and lower-grade rugby league.
While Inner West Council will spend about $1.25 million turning an old caretaker’s cottage outside the ground into a museum of inner west rugby league,Byrne believes that without more significant investment the ground may soon be unsuitable for professional sports. Last year a platform at the ground leading some spectators to be taken to hospital,and according to the masterplan,some of the stadium’s facilities have not been updated for more than three decades.
In a bid to secure funding for the revamp Byrne wrote to NSW Sports Minister Steve Kamper urging the Minns government to help protect the ground’s future. Referring to the platform collapse,Byrne said it “highlighted that without capital investment Leichhardt Oval will soon become unsafe as a venue for professional sport”.
“The closure of Leichhardt Oval would be a dark day for sport in NSW,” he wrote.
The government is unlikely to take up his offer to redirect funding from the outer western suburbs to the inner west,with a spokesman for Kamper saying:“We have committed $309 million to Penrith Stadium,we will deliver $309 million to Penrith Stadium”.
However,the government is reviewing the council’s proposal.
“We will review the masterplan and funding options presented by the Inner West Council,” the spokesman said.
“A decision on the project will be made in due course.”
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