THE planned redevelopment of Frankston Basketball Stadium will now cost ratepayers an extra $15 million.
The project, initially expected to cost around $45 million, is now projected to cost $60 million. Frankston Council ratepayers will likely pay for the extra cost.
The project has expanded, with ten competition-ready courts now included in the final build instead of eight. Six courts will be fully rebuilt, and a 1000 square metre gymnastics hall will be constructed. It will house the Frankston District Basketball Association and the Bayside Gymnastics Club.
Matching commitments of $15 million each have been made by the state and federal governments. A report prepared by council officers read that no further funding commitments are likely to be made by other levels of government.
Frankston councillors approved the project’s expansion at their 11 September meeting. Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy said the extra spending would support women in sports. “We need to level up the playing field, give everyone equal opportunity, and support boys and girls to play sports, and not just football and cricket,” he said.
“Bayside Gymnastics Club, thank you and your team for fighting for eight or nine years. There’s been promises of different locations. When we asked you to advocate, campaign, or show up to funding announcements, you did it all,” he said. “I believe there is so much synergy between [basketball and gymnastics].”
Councillor Brad Hill said that he opposed the extra expenditure because of its impact on other projects, and the proposed replacement of some existing courts with new ones. He said council has received “independent advice” that the courts “still have twenty years of life in them.”
“If I’ve got an old Falcon, I can reduce my maintenance costs by ordering a new Mercedes. But that doesn’t mean it makes sense,” he said.
The expanded project will result in changes to council’s schedule for future projects. Hill said “there’s impact to dozens of other projects in our long term infrastructure plan. We don’t have visibility of what all those impacts are.”
“We were presented with a list of changes, and I don’t think we have actually evaluated the complete list. The other impacted groups have not been consulted or even informed that their projects are being deferred. If they were consulted or informed, perhaps they would have come tonight to speak to that,” he said at last week’s council meeting.
The decision to spend the extra money was supported by the councillors Conroy, Suzette Tayler, Kris Bolam, and David Asker – the mayor’s casting vote saw the proposal approved. Councillors Hill and Claire Harvey opposed, and Liam Hughes and Sue Baker abstained from the vote. Councillor Steven Hughes was absent from the chamber due to his recent suspension.
Frankston Council considered booting gymnastics from the project to save money, but ultimately decided to retain the planned facilities.
A report prepared by Frankston Council officers read “as part of several options explored, a basketball only facility was investigated to curtail costs. This had some interest from FDBA, who want to see the site maximised for basketball only. The basketball only venue was estimated to cost $49 million.”
Among the reasons listed by council officers for retaining gymnastics in the project were the “need to instead consider other options for the provision of a fit for purpose gymnastics facility” at an increased cost, and “a reputational risk for council in rescinding a 2021 council decision to incorporate gymnastics within this project at this late stage.”
“Council has been working since 2018 with Bayside Gymnastics on establishing a purpose-built gymnastics facility within the municipality with multiple ‘false starts’. This would further delay the provision of facilities for this sport and club,” the report read. “Feasibility investigations indicate that facilities which are designed and operated to be ‘multi-use’ are generally operated at higher levels of usage capacity and have greater financial performance than single sport/specialist facilities.
“Officers have progressed the project planning to date on the basis of council’s existing resolved position to deliver a combined basketball and gymnastics facility. Given the disadvantages associated with excluding gymnastics from the development, this has not been recommended.”
Council’s report read that the sports projects affected by the Frankston Basketball Stadium decision included the construction of a pavilion for Yamala Tennis club, delayed from 2027/2028 to 2031/2032, Archery Club infrastructure upgrades, delayed from 2027/2028 to 2031/2032, and installation of lighting and synthetic greens for Lawn Bowls, pushed back from 2027/2028 to 2029/2030. The revised schedule has seen some projects brought forward. The implementation of master plans at Baxter Park and George Pentland Botanic Gardens have both been moved up from 2026/2027 to 2025/2026, the report reads.
The Frankston Basketball Stadium’s road to redevelopment has been rocky. In 2018 a planned upgrade to the stadium was abandoned after negotiations between the FDBA and Frankston Council collapsed. Later that year Basketball Victoria completed an investigation into allegations of serious misconduct at the FDBA.