Penrith City Council revitalises Cook Park sport and recreation infrastructure

Recently installed outdoor fitness equipment and new LED floodlighting on two of the football fields at Cook Park, St Marys are among the several projects planned by City of Penrith to revitalise Cook Park’s sport and recreation infrastructure.

The outdoor fitness equipment provides the community with a variety of cardio and strength equipment, designed to be inclusive for a range of ages and abilities. The project was funded by Council and the NSW Government through the Community Building Partnership program. 

Council has also completed the construction of a new amenities building at Bill Ball Oval in Cook Park with the former building having been replaced with a new facility featuring two modern change rooms, a change room for officials, canteen, storage, an accessible toilet, first aid and administration areas, and a public toilet to service the adjacent playspace. 

Penrith Mayor Tricia Hitchen advised “we are also planning further upgrades for the park such as new football amenities and playing surfaces, additional car parking spaces, a walking circuit, and tree planting.

“We want to elevate Cook Park into a high-quality precinct that can be enjoyed by everyone in the community from casual users right through to sports groups and athletes who use these facilities for training, competitions, and events.”   

The upgrade was funded by Council in partnership with the NSW Government through the NSW ICC T20 World Cup 2020 Cricket Legacy Fund, Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW through the Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund and the Penrith Cricket Club. 

Cricket NSW Chief Executive Lee Germon shared “The Bill Ball Oval and Cook Park project is another great example of several stakeholders working together in an effort to improve infrastructure that will help inspire more people to play and love cricket. This project again shows that the positive effect on the community from the NSW ICC T20 World Cup 2020 Cricket Legacy Fund is ongoing. We would like to thank the NSW Government, Penrith City Council and Cricket Australia for their contributions.”  

Penrith Cricket Club President Paul Goldsmith shared“The new amenities building at Bill Ball Oval is very impressive and provides a wonderful facility that supports the growing demands of grade cricket in the area. The new facility now enables more cricket games to be played at the ground, including women's cricket, representative games and finals cricket. The Penrith Cricket Club would like to thank Penrith City Council, Cricket NSW and the NSW Government for the investment they have made to enable this wonderful new facility to be built.”  

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car said the new amenities building is an opportunity for more female players to follow their passion for cricket and represents another step forward for Cook Park.

“The new amenities building features change rooms that cater to women and young girls, breaking down a barrier to participation and helping to grow women's cricket,” Deputy Premier Car added.

“I’m excited to see Cook Park continue to be transformed into a first-class sporting precinct for St Marys.”  

The upgrades to Cook Park were identified through Council’s Sport and Recreation Strategy. For more information visit penrith.city/spros  

Image top: Cook Park Outdoor Fitness Equipment (from left) NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car; Penrith Mayor Tricia Hitchen and Andrew Moore, Penrith City Council at the Outdoor Fitness Equipment at Cook Park, St Marys.

Image above: Bill Ball Oval amenities building (from left) Geoff Sullivan, Penrith Cricket Club; Lee Germon, Cricket NSW; Paul Goldsmith, Penrith Cricket Club; Andrew Moore, Penrith City Council; Penrith Mayor Tricia Hitchen; NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car and Wyatt North, Penrith Cricket Club at Bill Ball Oval, St Marys.