Canterbury Bankstown Mayor seeks assurances on finances for former Olympic velodrome

With the City of Canterbury Bankstown set to assume control of Sydney 2000 Olympics venue the Dunc Gray Velodrome as of next year, the Council is to meet with the NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres to discuss the future of the facility.

The 11,000 metre² venue at Bass Hill in Sydney’s west will come under Council when its current lease with Bankstown Sports Club ends.

The Council is concerned that the Velodrome, which caters primarily for elite cycling programs conducted by Cycling NSW and which loses $420,000 a year, will become a burden on local ratepayers.

Mayor Khal Asfour, who says the Council has been involved in lengthy discussions over the future of the facility with NSW Government departments for a number of years, advises “we have been trying to get the Government to meet its responsibilities when it comes to maintaining state sporting infrastructure, such as the velodrome.

"It was a great venue for the Olympics but it has not been financially viable ever since and is underutilised."

Mayor Asfour advised that the Council has recently been informed by the NSW Office of Sport, that it has engaged a consultant to prepare a design report and business plan, to take on the management and upgrading of the velodrome.

He added “this is great news but we’re not quite there yet.

"This is finally a step in the right direction but the Government is still yet to commit to the annual funding required to keep and maintain the velodrome.

"No council has the financial capacity to run a significant piece of State sporting infrastructure like this so, if the Government can’t commit to it, we will have to review our position.

"But, I am hopeful the Government will see commonsense, particularly now Minister Ayres has agreed to meet with me on the issue."

In 2016, Council commissioned a study into The Crest sporting precinct, which incorporates the Velodrome, in order to investigate its ability to operate the cycling venue.

While last year, Council looked at what alternate options there were for the velodrome site, including:

• Continuing with maintenance only, requiring an annual operational cost of $402,000 and maintenance of $1.08 million each year for the next four years;
• Exploring the option of adaptive re-use, which would cost up to $6.86 million, in addition to the above yearly maintenance bill; and
• Up to $9.4 million for the demolition and construction of a new sports field with tiered seating.

Image courtesy of City of Canterbury Bankstown.