Council to rule on sports pavilion

The ongoing saga surrounding the multi-million-dollar Hay Park South Multi-Sports Pavilion is set to be resolved next week when Bunbury City Council votes on retaining management of the facility.

The sporting complex has a marred history with a lease agreement between two clubs annulled just two months after the impressive facility was opened in July, 2016.

The more than $4.6 million complex was funded through $2.8 million from Royalties for Regions, $335,000 from the Department of Sport and Recreation and more than $1.5 million from the council.

The council formally resumed management of the facility in February, 2017 for a two-year period during which negotiations started in an effort to find a suitable user.

But the council was forced to defer a decision late last year with the South West Phoenix Soccer Club still hopeful a sporting association could be formed to take over.

In a report to the council, it states a second club is still yet to come on board and the option of an association taking over management was not a “practical” one.

The council will next week be advised to retain management of the facility, including hire agreements with sporting clubs.

Deputy Mayor Jaysen Miguel said he was “absolutely” looking forward to a decision being made and he was hopeful the facility would reach its full potential in the near future.

“It’s been a long time coming, even though the recommendation is basically the status quo in terms of the city continually leasing it out,” Cr Miguel said.

“It just gives a little bit of clarification.

“The city has still been working with the user groups out there so it’ll be good to give them a little bit of clarity with what they’re doing.

“It’s just not feasible for the groups to go into an association until they sort out what their needs are and what the city’s needs are.”

He said he hoped a raft of users would be using the facility in the future and upgrades at Hay Park would only benefit it.

“There’s still a lot of work to go on at Hay Park and until that’s finished, this in the interim will be a good result so the city can still manage it but lease it on a case-by-case basis,” he said.