AT THE END OF THE DAY | Orange sporting precinct will be great

Something of this scale should never be taken lightly.

But last week, Orange City councillors voted 10-1 in favour of chopping down 250 trees to make way for the precinct. This will come as no surprise to you, but as a sports lover, I was delighted to hear the decision.

In the lead up to this point, I feel like we'd heard from many a member of the community, councillors and even Peter Fitzsimons. But the one voice I feel that has been lacking is that of the sportspeople who would actually be using that facility.

So in doing this, I decided to chat with Daryl Kennewell.

Now, Kennewell has a vested interest in both hockey and cricket around the region, boasting the titles Orange Ex-Services president and Centrals first grade captain.

Once again, you will not be surprised which way he feels on the matter.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction, whether they like the location or not, we needed that there just to get more sport into Orange and more elite sports into Orange," he said.

"It will also take the pressure off Wade Park for footy and get that rectangle field in town. With the athletics track, it's just going to help younger people and give them more options."

On the point of Wade Park, I could not agree more.

I've seen a lot of sporting fields in my time and on its day, Wade Park can be one of the best. But with all the top sports clambering to play there as much as possible, the toll taken is large.

Once the precinct is built, it will allow not only Wade, but also fields like Pride Park to thrive even more.

When Kennewell first heard about the idea of it being built down Icely Road, he thought it would be good for Orange.

"In a cricket sense, it just seemed the right thing to do for Wade Park to take the stress off that because it was always going from one grass to another and it was getting the best of it at the change of season," he said.

"When it moved out to the other location I thought it would be a good spot and I had no dramas with the traffic congestion and that sought of stuff because there's two entries, Huntley Road and Forest Road so if they did have a big sporting event they could potentially block off Forest Road in case of emergencies anyway."

The issue of traffic was heard the loudest when Orange Hospital doctors called for the city's $25 million sports precinct not be placed near the hospital as they said it would create too much congestion.

They said the road would not handle the traffic from sports crowds on top of existing congestion already caused for the hospital, the Bloomfield Medical Centre precinct and Cadia mine workers.

Now, I am far from a traffic expert, but if major cities seem capable of managing these types of issues, it seems reasonable that Orange should be able to as well.

There are also the potential positives to think about.

"It's definitely a bonus especially for the economy, people can come out and see what Orange has to offer with our big food and wine region," Kennewell added.

"To come out for a big event, spend a couple of nights and go 'it's not a bad place this little Orange town'.

"It's just that benefit as well. We can travel to Bathurst, Mudgee or Dubbo for NRL games but with Wade Park and the new precinct we can attract a lot more variety and have events just about every month so it will definitely be a bonus for us."

The development application for the proposed sporting precinct will likely be lodged mid-July and, after the 28-day public exhibition period expires, will then be submitted to the Western Regional Planning Panel for consideration.

Ultimately, after a second round of public consultation, the planning panel will have the final say on the sporting precinct.

But until then, the issue of whether the council was right or wrong to vote to chop down the trees will loom large.

"I've got friends that are arborists and they were saying we shouldn't chop down the trees and I was on the (council) live stream and listened to some of the key arguments and a lot of it was positive and there were a lot of good arguments, but common sense prevailed in the end," Kennewell added.

"It just makes sense. There's 700 metres between the hospital and the new precinct and there will be more trees planted.

"You could argue either way. I love my trees but I love my sport and the growth of the town too, so I think it's a win win for both sides. Like everything that gets built, people get used to it and plan around it and move ahead."

It will take some time, but in the end I believe the precinct will prove its worth for Orange.

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