City of Parramatta calls for women’s sport facilities funding

City of Parramatta is calling for more state and federal funding to help local councils fast-track their transformation of sporting facilities to be more female friendly.

Lord Mayor Cr Pierre Esber said Council was committed to ensuring its 33 sportsgrounds and pavilions met the needs of all players and supported the City’s fast-growing population.

“Equal access to facilities that support and enhance participation is critical at all levels of sport, from grassroots through to elite,” Cr Esber said.

“We want Parramatta to be a breeding ground for the next generation of Matildas, Diamonds and Jillaroos and it starts by ensuring they have access to great sporting facilities in their local community.

“Council has already started the job by investing more than $12.5 million on upgrades to five sportsground facilities over the last 10 years but we cannot do it alone.”

Cr Esber said the initiatives like the Federal Government’s $200 million Play Our Way program, announced in August on the back on the Women’s World Cup, were a positive step but with more than 500 councils nationally likely to be competing for a share of the funds, continued investment from the State and Federal Governments was critical.

“This is a great chance for all three tiers of government to work together to ensure local sporting facilities support the continued growth of women’s sport.

“We’ll be pushing for both the NSW and Australian Governments to help us fast track the upgrades of facilities to include female friendly facilities, additional lighting and other elements needed.”

Councillors also agreed to prepare Sportsground Pavilion drawings and specifications to enable forward planning to assist local sporting clubs and groups as they continue to grow.

“Parramatta’s is set to house more than 400,000 people by 2041 so it is absolutely critical that we begin to plan and ensure our growing community has the sporting facilities it needs,” Cr Esber said.