A $50,000 GAME plan has laid out the next two decades of development for sport and recreation in the region.
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As Tamworth Regional Council reaches for a population of 100,000 by 2041, it has released the draft Sport and Recreation Strategic Plan with trigger points for new facilities.
When the city surpasses 80,000 people, there's a plan for three new multi-use sports facilities like the Tamworth Sports Dome and plenty of other goals the council wants to kick.
As the community grows, it's important the facilities continue to meet their needs, TRC sports development officer Sam Eriksson said.
"We have the run-of-the-mill sports ... we need to cater to have more fields, lighting and change rooms that are adequate for those sports," he said.
"But, the things that are trending in recreation at the moment are unstructured recreational activity like running, walking, hiking and jogging.
"Council needs to ensure we have the right facilities moving forward for people to enjoy."
There are a number of exciting new developments in the plan, among them is a sports precinct that would run alongside the Peel River.
An ambitious business case for a $67 million aquatic centre is included in the plan, right down to emerging sports like roller derby.
It's a chicken and egg scenario, we need a plan to start putting that into our budget and doing future forecasting.
- Sam Eriksson
A plan to upgrade Manilla's Chaffey Park already has the council's tick of approval that will see four multi-purpose hard courts installed for netball and basketball, plus upgraded sports fields for soccer, rugby and touch football.
It will see four multi-purpose hard courts installed for basketball and netball, plus upgraded sports fields for soccer, rugby and touch football.
As part of the process, the council took an inventory of its current facilities and found 46 per cent had minor defects but only two per cent were considered unserviceable.
The project to date involved extensive community consultation, Mr Eriksson said.
"The plan is really exciting because it includes trigger points for as the population grows on what the community will need," he said.
"It's a chicken and egg scenario, we need a plan to start putting that into our budget and doing future forecasting."
It took on a specialist open space and recreation management firm to develop the scheme.
Key issues identified by the community were high-participation costs for certain sports, limited spectator activities, a lack of disability access and the need for improved lighting and change rooms.
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While the Northern Inland Sporting Centre of Excellence and the Australian Equine and Livestock Event Centre were highly commended.
On Tuesday, councillors voted unanimously to put the draft plan out for public exhibition for the next 28 days, available on the council website.