Georges River Council will look at the viability of constructing a basketball stadium in the local government area.
This follows a Notice of Motion put forward at the June 24 Council Meeting by Deputy Mayor Sam Elmir.
His Notice of Motion called for the viability of the construction of a basketball stadium in the Georges River area to be considered.
He was supported unanimously by his fellow councillors.
The Notice of Motion was also supported by St George Basketball Association and Basketball NSW.
St George Basketball Association president Ray Barbi told the council said the association has 96 teams in competition and currently uses the Hurstville Aquatic Centre.
But he said that Basketball NSW would not give the association permission to host the state titles at the Hurstville Aquatic Centre because of inadequate men's facilities at the centre.
He added that this year the association will pay $130,000 in rent.
"We desperately need our own centre to help us grow," he said.
Former Hurstville mayor and St George Basketball Association board member Phillip Sansom said the association has the ability to grow a lot more.
Basketball NSW general manager infrastructure Jeremy Purdon also attended the council meeting to express his organisation's support of the proposal.
Councillor Elmir said that Council will undertake a feasibility study to determine various factors relating to the potential construction of a new basketball facility.
"The next step will be the creation of a report to Council, which addresses a number of topics including the current and future demand for indoor court facilities within the Georges River area and potential future locations for the site," Councillor Elmir said.
The report will consider the range of indoor sport and recreation activities currently occurring and the existing demand for indoor court hire in the local area, in addition to the estimated related land acquisition and construction costs.
The level of financial assistance that the St George Basketball Association could contribute towards the cost of construction, and potential grant funding opportunities with the State and/or Federal government will also be explored.
Georges River Council Mayor Kevin Greene said that the community has already demonstrated a need for this facility.
"Council received 361 community survey submissions for the draft open Space, Recreation and Community Facilities Strategy 2019, and something that kept coming up was the wish to see additional basketball amenities in the Georges River area," Councillor Greene said.
"This is another positive step towards the realisation of Council's goal to deliver 'active and accessible places and spaces', as outlined in Council's ten-year Community Strategic Plan."
