Stadium saga continues: Goldminers chairman calls for more from council

Bathurst Goldminers Basketball members have been advocating for upgrades and repairs for years, particularly for the roof.

This is because every time Bathurst receives significant rain, water leaks through the stadium ceiling onto the courts, causing games to be postponed or cancelled.

This was almost the case over the King's Birthday long weekend, when the Bathurst Indoor Sports Centre hosted the Under 18s in the John Martin NSW Country Tournament.

With significant rainfall on the Thursday and Friday leading up to the event, the possibility of delays and cancellation were high.

It's something that Goldminers chairman Jason Woodyatt said shouldn't be a worry when you're dealing with an indoor stadium.

"On Friday we were just praying for a miracle for the rain to stop," he said.

"I was there trying to set it up and the rain was just coming down.

"We ran out of towels to use and had to keep rotating them through the dryer and reusing them. It was just a nightmare.

"We were holding the under 18s men's competition, that's the premier age group, and we had young men turning up who had signed college deals in America for basketball."

Despite having received State and Federal Government funding to cover the list of repairs needed, confusion remains regarding the remaining cost of replacing the roof.

Since April this year, a total of $1.5 million in state and federal grants has been successfully secured to perform much needed upgrades to the stadium.

When the $1.1 million state grant was announced, Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium manager Andrew James told the Western Advocate that now almost all of the works will be completed, but the priority is the roof.

However, Mr Woodyatt said given Bathurst Regional Council owns the stadium, he would like to see them come up with the remaining funds for the roof, to allow all of the other works to be completed with funding money, not just most.

Though council's understanding is the remaining cost of the roof is covered in the state funding received, and this was a topic of conversation at the Council's Ordinary Meeting on May 15.

Mr Woodyatt addressed mayor Jess Jennings and director of corporate services and finance Aaron Jones during the public forum, asking council to provide confirmation that the remainder of the roof repairs cost will be covered.

"We need to know, we need the roof fixed," Mr Woodyatt said.

"We can't go ahead repairing floors and the rest of it when the roof leaks and it's just going to damage the new floors."

To which Mr Jones replied, "Our understanding was that the remaining $400,000 to finish the roof off was to be included in that application [made to the NSW Government]."

While Bathurst Council was successful in receiving $400,000 from the Federal Government to help repair the leaky roof of the stadium - which has been an ongoing issue for a number of years - the estimated cost of these repairs is around $800,000.

Then the following month, May 2024, Basketball NSW was successful in securing a NSW Government grant of $1,151,773 to be allocated to the local complex.

But, there's yet to be confirmation on whether the roof, plus replacing the floorboards, upgrading the grandstand and renovating the amenities will all be covered.

The Western Advocate reached out to council and Basketball NSW to ask for clarification on the issue, with both parties saying a meeting is scheduled between the two to discuss the finer details.